AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 15

APHROCHIC 

a curated lifestyle magazine 

ISSUE NO. 15 \ SPRING 2024 

ART FOR THE PEOPLE \ THE JOY OF SPRING \ THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE 

APHROCHIC.COM

In Issue No. 15 of AphroChic we explore the worlds of creatives who are showing us the 

sheer depth and breadth of Black culture in the 21st century. Black culture is everywhere 

— in food, fashion, down historic city streets, and in some of the world’s greatest cultural 

institutions. In this spring 2024 issue, where we’re almost a quarter into the century, 

we’re shining a light on the ways in which Black culture is discovering new ways to honor 

our past, build a better and more equitable present, and radically reimagine our future. 

Chef Rasheeda Purdie graces the cover. She is the woman behind Ramen by Ra, New York City’s first Black- and woman-owned 

ramen restaurant. We feature the work she is doing, breaking new ground in the culinary world by bringing together 

traditional Japanese ramen and southern soul food to create dishes that wow the palette and honor her cultural heritage. 

In Brooklyn, we take you inside the exhibit that has art-lovers’ hearts afire, Giants: Art From The Dean Collection of Swizz Beats 

and Alicia Keys at the Brooklyn Museum. We explore how the couple has redefined the role of art collectors, elevated the value of 

contemporary Black art, and brought art to the people. Then we head to Detroit where another musician, BLKBOK, is blending 

classical with Hip Hop, telling stories of Black history through a sound that is all his own. 

In City Stories we travel to Philadelphia, exploring the historic stone streets, architectural marvels, murals and cultural 

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 

photographer Carla Williams, whose debut monograph, Tender, explores a young, queer, Black woman’s identity through the lens 

of her camera. 

In a world that feels like it’s growing more chaotic by the day, we offer a new series for 2024 — Radically Reimagined. This 

series is an exploration of how we all can be part of designing a better world through radically reimagining, deconstructing, 

and developing new paradigms. And in Civics we take a solution-oriented approach to addressing the many genocides that are 

happening globally, providing you with resources on how to help bring an end to the practice of deliberately killing and eradicating 

nations and ethnic groups around the world. 

For uplifting inspiration, we share with you master floral designer John L. Goodman’s spring tablescape, inspired by one of 

his favorite books — The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit. In Fashion, we take you inside the world of Kwasi Paul, the mens and 

womenswear fashion label by designer Samuel Boakye that blends his New York and Ghanaian roots through bold silhouettes and 

lots of color. And in Interior Design, we visit the upstate New York home of Brazilian designer Ana Claudia Schultz. 

As with every issue of AphroChic, we’re here to show you the beauty and diversity of the African Diaspora, from Black thought 

to art, fashion, and design. The world may be chaotic 24 years into the 21st century, but across the Diaspora the future is indeed 

very bright. 

Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason 

Founders, AphroChic 

Instagram: @aphrochic 

editors’ letter

SPRING 2024 

DEPARTMENTS 

Read This 10 

Visual Cues 12 

Coming Up 14 

The Black Family Home 16 

Mood 26 

FEATURES 

Fashion // A World Within Itself 30 

Interior Design // A Mid-Century Modern Dream 40 

Culture // Art for the People 56 

Food // Soul Ramen 68 

Entertaining // The Joy of Spring 74 

City Stories // The City of Brotherly Love 80 

Reference // Radically Reimagined 96 

Wellness // Resetting Your Way to a Better Life 104 

Sounds // BLKBOK: Where Hip Hop Meets Classical 106 

PINPOINT 

Artists & Artisans 114 

Civics 120 

Who Are You? 126

CONTRIBUTORS 

Cover Photo: Rasheeda Purdie 

Photographer: Rashida Zagon 

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 

Chinasa Cooper 

issue fifteen 9

READ THIS 

As James Baldwin said, “If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go.” History is a 

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 

books, AphroChic looks to important Civil Rights figures and events. Medgar and Myrlie Evers fought to desegregate 

the University of Mississippi, organized picket lines and boycotts, and survived a firebombing of their home. When 

Medgar was assassinated by the Klan in 1963, Myrlie continued their work in his name. Their love story was at the 

heart of everything they did, and it's intertwined with their passion for the Civil Rights Movement in Medgar & 

Myrlie. Constance Baker Motley, who finally gets her due in Civil Rights Queen, was the first Black woman to argue a 

case in front of the Supreme Court, she defended Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, helped to argue in Brown 

vs. The Board of Education, and played a critical role in fighting Jim Crow laws throughout the South. And Tragedy on 

Trial puts the spotlight on the shocking story of the 1955 trial of Emmett Till's murderers, particularly the fearless 

efforts of Mamie Till and the courageous friends and family who testified. 

Civil Rights Queen 

by Tomiko Brown-Nagin 

Publisher: Vintage. $18.99 

Tragedy on Trial 

by Ronald K.L. Collins 

Publisher: Carolina Academic 

Press. $25.99 

Medgar & Myrlie 

by Joy-Ann Reid 

Publisher: Mariner Books. $29 

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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 

William Henry Johnson (American, 1901–1970). Woman in Blue, c. 1943. Oil on 

burlap. Framed: 35 × 27 in. (88.9 × 68.6 cm). Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, 

Permanent Loan from the National Collection of Fine Art. Courtesy Clark Atlanta 

University Art Museum. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting a new 

exhibit, The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic 

Modernism, as the first African American–led movement 

of international modern art. With 160 works of 

art on display through July 28, it showcases how Black 

artists portrayed everyday modern life in the new 

Black cities of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. In those 

decades of the Great Migration, millions of African 

Americans moved north from the segregated rural 

South. At the core of the exhibition are artists who 

shared a commitment to depicting the Black subject in 

a radically modern way, refusing the racist stereotypes 

of the day. Paintings, sculpture, film, and photography 

are featured from artists such as Charles Alston, 

Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, Palmer Hayden, 

Bert Hurley, William H. Johnson, Archibald Motley, Jr., 

Winold Reiss, Augusta Savage, James Van Der Zee, and 

Laura Wheeler Waring. A powerful gallery features 

Romare Bearden’s 15-foot-wide series of collages, The 

Block (1970), from The Met collection, offering a town 

house row in mid-century Harlem and that sustains 

the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. Many of the 

pieces in the exhibition come from the collections of 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), 

including Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, 

Fisk University Galleries, Hampton University Art 

Museum, and Howard University Gallery of Art. For 

more information, go to metmuseum.org. 

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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. 

The Black Cowboy Festival 

May 23-26 | Rembert, SC 

The Black Cowboy Festival is an annual event that 

celebrates the historical and contemporary significance 

of African American contributions to cowboy 

and frontier culture. It's estimated that one in four 

of the Old West cowboys were Black, many of whom 

were recently freed enslaved people migrating from 

the South. Black men and women on horseback were 

a symbol of power then, and the festival organizers 

celebrate that they still are today. In its 27th year, the 

festival includes competitive rodeo events, demonstrations, 

entertainers, horseback rides, line dancing, 

trail rides, calf roping, wagon rides, artifact displays, 

and food vendors. 

Learn more at blackcowboyfestival.net. 

American Black Film Festival 

June 12-16 | Miami 

The American Black Film Festival is an 

annual event dedicated to empowering 

Black talent and showcasing film and 

television content by and about people 

of African descent. The ABFF provides 

a platform for emerging Black artists — 

many of whom have become successful 

actors, producers, writers, directors and 

stand-up comedians. The event includes 

screenings, classes, seminars and cultural 

events. 

Learn more at abff.com/miami. 

Bronzeville Juneteenth Celebration 

June 17 | Chicago 

The historic Bronzeville neighborhood 

hosts an annual Juneteenth celebration 

that attracts thousands. Located on 

the south side of Chicago, Bronzeville 

became an established neighborhood 

around the turn of the 20th century as 

a result of the Great Migration. Today 

it's known as a cultural center and arts 

district. The Juneteenth event includes 

art installations, storytelling, visual and 

performing arts, historical tours, and 

more. 

Learn more at eventnoire.com. 

International Black Theatre Festival 

July 29-August 3 | Winston-Salem, NC 

Now in its 18th year, the International 

Black Theatre Festival attracts over 

65,000 attendees. The multi-day festival 

includes 100 theatrical performances, as 

well as films, spoken word poetry, youth 

programming, workshops, academic discussions, 

and an international vendor’s 

market showcasing art and crafts from 

the African Diaspora. 

Learn more at ncblackrep.org. 

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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 

Representation Matters — Except When It Doesn’t 

There’s no denying the importance of representation 

as part of the current conversation on race in America, 

or American social discourse as a whole. With regard to the 

former, it has become such a prevalent aspect of the conversation, 

particularly in the aftermath of the Black Lives 

Matter (BLM) marches of 2020, that we’re almost expected 

to believe that the only reason Black people ever marched, 

protested, or boycotted was out of a burning desire to be 

“seen.” But how important is representation really, and 

what does it actually mean? In a world of performative 

allyship, Black business listicles, and plummeting interest 

in workplace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), we have 

to ask whether visibility, by itself, is a panacea or simply a 

placebo for real change? 

Representation and the Black Family Home 

One way to take a very brief measure of a relationship 

that certainly demands more extensive and in-depth examination 

is to compare measurable quantities in representation 

and community well-being over established periods of 

time. Anyone old enough to remember the '90s knows well 

that Black representation in pop culture staples like TV and 

movies comes in ebbs and flows. Anyone whose lifespan or 

historical knowledge reaches further back knows that the 

same is true for Black social and political advancements. 

Therefore, we can look at the level of Black representation 

on television and in film against some other measure 

of community prosperity to get some idea, even roughly, 

whether these ebbs and flows are happening at or around the 

same time. 

To fill in the other side of this comparison, there are 

any number of metrics to choose from. Median wealth, 

for example, is always a compelling and popular option. 

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 

Photos by Bruce Mars, Christina Morillo, 

Rajiv Perera and Jimmy Dean 

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However, for the purposes of this consideration, 

there are a number of reasons to look 

instead at the Black family home. 

Even more than income, homeownership 

is a major component of wealth. 

As transferable assets, the generational 

sharing of homes is a large part of inheritances, 

which in turn have made up 

as much as 50% of wealth accumulation 

across the history of the United States. As a 

result, the perpetually lower rate of homeownership 

by Black Americans compared 

with white Americans is intrinsically 

linked to the overall and equally lasting 

disparity in wealth. Homeownership is 

also linked to health, whether through environmental 

justice issues such as lead 

exposure, water purity, and asthma risks, 

or through medical and economic disparities 

including food and medical deserts 

and redlining. There is a political aspect to 

housing and homeownership as well, with 

voting districts and gerrymandering determining 

much of who has say in legislative 

and policy decisions. In all, homeownership 

touches on many aspects of 

American life, such that gains in this area 

may — in very broad terms — suggest improvements 

in a number of areas where 

Black Americans are routinely kept lacking. 

By comparing levels of representation 

in television and film with levels of Black 

homeownership over specific periods of 

time, we can roughly discern the extent to 

which they mirror or follow one another. 

The point is not to establish a causal relationship, 

but to gauge in some small 

part whether there is a basis for assuming 

any relationship at all. Representation 

and social progress are not at all points 

congruent. And where they diverge, visibility 

in pop culture media can actually be 

used to disguise the backslides and backlashes 

that erode Black social and political 

gains. 

Black Representation in Film and Television 

1960 - 2000 

Black people have appeared in both 

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television and film since the earliest days of the two media. The 

19th century films, Horses. Gallop; thoroughbred bay mare (Annie 

G) with male rider, 1872-1875, by British innovator Eadweard 

Muybridge, and Something Good – Negro Kiss by director William 

Selig are two examples from the beginnings of film. Muybridge’s 

film features a Black rider atop a striding horse, while Selig’s 1898 

piece offered the first film depiction of African Americans kissing. 

Together these early films begin a legacy that would grow to 

include the nation’s first formally incorporated Black-owned film 

company — The Lincoln Film Company — and others through to 

the current day. 

Similarly, television has nearly always included a Black 

presence. Well ahead of the 1950s American TV boom, 1939's The 

Ethel Waters Show, an hour-long special starring the jazz vocalist 

and actress, was the first instance of a Black performer (of any 

gender) headlining their own show. Mixing comedy, music, and 

theater, the one-off event paired Waters with other notable 

Black performers such as Fredericka Washington and Georgette 

Harvey, as well as white performers like Philip Loeb. 

While the cited examples represent some of the high water 

marks of Black representation in the early days of TV and movies, 

the majority of depictions in both often fell into the racist tropes 

that were typical of the time, several of which persist in one form 

or another today. It was in the '50s and '60s that Black representation 

became both more widespread and took a turn from the 

initial depictions of servants, savages, and slaves. 

In film, change arrived with the coming of Sydney Poitier 

and Harry Belafonte. Both made careers of roles that depicted 

their characters, and Black people in general, with a type of 

dignity that had been lacking in earlier portrayals. Poitier’s first 

major role in 1950's No Way Out, is considered a pivotal moment 

in film culture as is Belafonte’s first major role in the 1954 film 

Carmen Jones. By the '70s the advent of so-called Blaxploitation 

films, led by Melvin Van Peebles 1971 classic Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss 

Song, not only opened new doors for empowered Black representation 

but rescued a film industry that was badly stagnating 

in the late '60s and nearing collapse. Films and directors of 

this era set the stage for the vanguard of the '90s which included 

directors like Spike Lee and John Singleton and a variety of acting 

talent that continues to grow today. 

The growth of Black representation on television began 

in the 1960s, as did representations of the Black family home. 

Sitcoms — which typically focus on life at home — were bringing 

Black people and our homes into view in new ways for the first 

time. Premiering in 1968, singer and actress Diahann Carroll’s 

Julia was the first weekly series to focus on a Black woman 

lead character that was not a servant to a white family. Julia 

was instead a nurse, widowed by the Vietnam war and raising 

her son. Julia was followed notably by Good Times, which was 

American television’s first depiction of a two-parent Black home 

and The Jeffersons, which lasted for more than 230 episodes and 

featured an affluent Black family. But undoubtedly one of the most 

impactful shows for depicting African American life in non-stereotypical 

roles was 1984’s The Cosby Show. 

Despite the deeply tarnished legacy of the show’s titular 

star, the program itself remains a landmark of representation for 

Black Americans, not only showcasing an affluent, professional, 

two-parent home, but storylines that involved these characters 

with art, theater and other forms of culture while addressing 

salient issues from an identifiably Black perspective. The 

success of the show set the stage for not only its own spin-off, 

1987’s A Different World, but 1990’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and 

1993’s Living Single among several others. Between 1950 and 1999, 

Black representation on film and television reached new heights 

of depth and variety at a time when gains in education, income, 

and homeownership seemed to be advancing with similar pace. 

Black Homeownership 1960 - 2000 

In 1960, roughly a decade after Sydney Poitier’s career began 

in earnest, and less than 10 years before Julia hit the airwaves, 

the rate of homeownership for African Americans was 38%. Of 

course there were reasons behind the number. First, the New 

Deal and the GI Bill, the two major American wealth-building assistance 

programs that bookended the Second World War, largely 

excluded Black people, as had all of the programs that preceded 

them. Throughout the '50s, Urban Renewal programs and the 

Federal-Aid Highway Act destroyed many Black neighborhoods, 

displacing hundreds of thousands of families nationwide. But 

perhaps even more impactful than these assorted causes was the 

systemic discrimination of redlining and race covenants — legal 

clauses enjoining Black Americans from owning or even inhabiting 

properties that included them in the deeds. Race covenants in 

particular prevented African Americans from homeownership in 

desirable locations such as the many single-family developments 

in suburban neighborhoods being built to house the nation’s 

newly minted middle class. 

Much of that changed with the signing of Title VIII of the 1968 

Civil Rights Act — better known as the Fair Housing Act — or at 

least it appeared to for a time. Among other things, the act put an 

end to race covenants and redlining, making it illegal to refuse 

sale of a home to a Black person on the basis of race. By 1980, 

the rate of Black homeownership had surged to more than 45%, 

achieving the smallest gap between white and Black homeownership 

rates the nation had ever seen. Similar advances in income 

20 aphrochic


22 aphrochic

and education were occurring at that point 

as well. But after 1980, the advancement 

largely halts. By 1990, the rate of Black 

homeownership had fallen to 43.3% and by 

1995 it was 41.9%. By the mid-90s, though 

representation was hitting all-time highs, 

including depictions of the Black family 

home, by the end of the 20th century Black 

homeownership was headed back to some 

familiar lows. 

The Reversal: 2000 - 2019 

The divergence between the availability 

of Hollywood film and television roles 

for Black actors and rate of homeownership 

flipped in the early years of the 21st 

century. To begin with, on-screen opportunities, 

particularly on television dropped 

off significantly before 2010. According to 

a 2019 study by the University of Illinois, 

between 2001 and 2008 the proportion of 

Black actors in television roles slipped from 

an already paltry 17% to just 12%. Meanwhile 

by 2004, Black homeownership rates had 

surpassed 49%, a steady growth from 1995 

that reflected the targeting of Black prospective 

homeowners by predatory lenders 

pushing subprime mortgages. The Great 

Recession, which included the market crash 

of ’08, was built on the foundation of these 

loans, with the result that the inevitable 

downturn they caused wiped out more than 

50% of the median wealth of Black households 

and a staggering number of Black 

homes. In the wake of the recession, Black 

homeownership rates fell, reaching 46% by 

the end of the recession in 2009. But unlike 

white households, which had lost only 17% 

of their wealth and whose homeownership 

rates were actually on the rise by the end of 

the recession — reaching 75% by the end of 

2009 — Black homeownership and median 

wealth both continued to plummet. By 2019, 

only 40.6% of Black households owned a 

home, a rate virtually identical to where 

the country had been in the early '60s. The 

first 20 years of the 21st century effectively 

erased all of the progress of the previous 32 

years, from the signing of the Fair Housing 

Act to the turn of the century. 

Representation and Homeownership 

Since 2020 

2020 was a turbulent year, one the 

effects of which we are still trying to gauge 

and deal with years later, and with which 

we will likely continue to struggle with for 

years to come. That year marked both the 

beginning of the still-ongoing COVID-19 

crisis and the global expansion of the BLM 

movement through protest marches held 

in the wake of the police-slayings of George 

Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Both would leave 

their mark on Black representation and 

Black homeownership. 

As marches and protests mounted, international 

support for Black Americans 

poured in throughout the year. Issues 

of Black safety and police violence were 

brought to the fore in America and 

elsewhere and were met with rising 

attention to issues facing Black Americans 

in other facets of life. Calls to defund the 

police and statistics-based arguments for 

the fundamental danger police forces pose 

to Black and other American communities 

were quickly joined and in some cases overshadowed 

by calls to support Black businesses, 

increase Black wealth and support 

greater representation, not only in film and 

television but in corporate America as well. 

Responses to this sudden attention, 

which some hailed as a renewing of the Civil 

Rights Movement, took a number of forms. 

As the year progressed, many actions, such 

as posting black squares on social media 

or creating multiple lists of Black businesses, 

came to be known as “performative 

allyship” — actions more effective at 

allowing white people to reassure themselves 

that they were not a part of the 

problem than at addressing the problem 

itself. Other actions, however, seemed more 

promising at the time. 

Between May and September of 2020, 

the number of job positions in DEI — the 

department of many companies tasked 

with addressing workplace injustices and 

ensuring a safe and equitable environment 

— increased by 123%. It surged another 23% 

between the Novembers of 2020 and 2021. At 

the same time, Black representation in film 

and television was matching the growing 

visibility of the community in social consciousness 

that year. 

In comparing the 18 months that 

preceded the declaration of the COVID-19 

pandemic and the 18 months that followed 

its nominal ending, Variety Business Intelligence 

found that 70.5% of television 

series released during what they term “the 

pandemic period” (April 1, 2020, to October 

1, 2021) featured a Black series regular — a 

65.8% increase from less than two years 

before. The number of films released with 

Black cast members also increased to 58.7% 

from 56.1%. Likewise, according to statistics, 

the early days of the pandemic had a 

beneficial effect on rates of Black homeownership 

as well — despite the usual 

obstacles. 

Zillow reports that in 2020 Black home 

loan applicants met with rejection at a rate 

84% higher than white applicants in the same 

year. Nevertheless, from its 2019 low of 40.6%, 

the rate of Black homeownership exploded, 

reaching a peak of 47% by the second quarter 

of that year. The upward trend would prove 

short-lived however, as by the end of 2020 the 

rate had dropped to 44.1%, and then to 43.1% 

by the end of 2021. Despite the hardships of 

COVID, however, white homeownership had 

reached a rate of 74.4 by that time. The 31.3% 

disparity between those numbers represents 

the largest gap the nation had seen since 

issue fifteen 23


1890. While Black homeownership rates had rebounded to 45.9% by 

the end of 2023, with white rates of ownership dropping to 73.8%, 

the 27.9% disparity was still larger than the 26.2% that separated 

Black and white homeowners in 1960, almost a decade before the 

Fair Housing Act would be signed. 

Making Sense of it All 

So what does all of this tell us? Actually, not much. There are 

numerous factors not included in this brief consideration that 

impact and determine increases and decreases in pop media 

representation and rates of homeownership. Without including 

them, there is little that we can definitively say about what either 

actually means, much less determining whether one has any real 

impact on the other. All we can definitely say is that they are not 

the same thing — and that, ultimately, is the point. 

Increases in representation are part of the work of progress, 

but representation is not the whole of what’s needed, nor can it be 

considered an accurate barometer for where we currently stand 

as a people. Through the few decades included in this article, rates 

of representation and homeownership varied wildly and frequently 

diverged. In those few years where they did follow similar 

trajectories, one seems invariably to change course before the 

other, a phenomenon that can cause dissonances in our understanding 

of where we are and what we need to focus on, even 

within the issue of representation itself. 

While Black TV and film roles skyrocketed in 2020, in the 

same year a UCLA study found that 92% of studio heads were 

white. Similarly a McKinsey & Co. study found that between 

2015 and 2019, Black people accounted for only 6% of Hollywood 

directors and producers, and a scant 4% of writers. This again 

shows how increases in visibility can belie continued marginalization 

in other areas. And while this can be problematic for a 

single industry, it can be disastrous when expanded across the 

idea of progress as a whole. 

For example, rising representation in the '80s and '90s 

masked stagnating progress in housing and income. Meanwhile, 

rising representation of Black businesses on social media in 2020 

masked the loss of more than 40% of Black businesses in that 

same year, along with racially disparate allocation of government 

support funds. So while the internet and social media was 

being flooded with lists of Black businesses for aspiring allies 

to support, amid cries to increase the development of wealth in 

the Black community, nearly half of existing Black businesses 

were closing their doors while banks and other lenders either 

excluded Black business owners from grant and loan programs 

or targeted them for predatory terms. Similarly the SAG-AFTRA 

strike revealed deep disparities in actor opportunities and 

wages on the back of a major increase in Black roles, and just 

ahead of a projected downturn in Hollywood production, leaving 

us to wonder what roles will be cut first on and off screen when 

Hollywood tightens its belt. 

The last thing that we can definitively say, is that none of 

this should be taken to denigrate or detract from the importance 

of representation. Representation is vital for many reasons, 

the simplest of which being that we are a part of this nation and 

the world, and deserve to be seen, and even more so, recognized 

as such. But as the argument for representation continues to be 

adopted and employed outside of our community — and reflected 

back to us — it is important to distinguish representation as the 

simple act of being visible or “seen,” from the recognition of Black 

dignity and humanity that we actually seek. 

In terms of simple visibility, Black people have never lacked 

for the attention of the nation. Even now, whenever the nation 

needs someone to arrest, imprison, lay off, or deem essential, it 

never seems have a hard time finding us. Conversely, recognition 

is the acknowledgement of our place, both in history and in society 

today. It works to be inwardly honest rather than outwardly acceptable, 

reflecting our humanity in its entirety, rather than artificially 

reducing our experience to fit the expectations of those 

who do not share it. It’s the kind of visibility that’s being denied 

when Black representation is lacking in both the cultural products 

that shape and enshrine our concept of history and the industries 

that produce them. It’s the kind of recognition that we build for 

ourselves in the design of our homes and in our connection to them. 

Increases in that kind of recognition, that doesn’t come with 

stereotypes, caricatures, or being forced to conform to the expectations 

of any kind of external gaze can always change the game — 

but they aren’t the whole game. So more Black shows, new Black 

movies, and Black-led halftime shows are all needed and rightfully 

celebrated. Yet in those moments when they come, we should 

also ask ourselves how what’s appearing on screen compares with 

what’s happening in our communities, and where else we need 

to focus to build an equitable and just home in America where 

progress and representation are more than a passing trend. AC 

24 aphrochic

MOOD 

Weave 

Across the African Diaspora, weaving has 

always been a medium for telling our stories. 

Whether weaving hair, quilts, clothing, 

or rugs, in the Americas, the Caribbean, 

and on the Continent, weaving has been 

more than just hobby or craft. Textiles 

are a deep part of our cultural legacy; our 

ancestors weaving canvases with purposeful 

intention, meaningful messages, and 

sometimes the very keys to our liberation. 

In Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of 

Quilts and the Underground Railroad, the authors 

trace the history of weaving quilts as 

a form of activism for Black Americans. In 

the 19th century, quilts hung outside homes 

were embroidered with coded messages. A 

log cabin in a quilt meant "seek shelter now, 

the people here are safe to speak with," and 

acted as maps for those forging their own 

roads to freedom. Today, textile artists like 

Bisa Butler and Billie Zangewa, both part 

of the Spelman College Museum of Art’s 

new exhibition Threaded, use textiles to 

help us remember who we are, weaving old 

and new stories that explore our past, our 

present, and that dream of our future. And 

in the world of home decor, a new generation 

of artists and product designers, from 

Yinka Ilori to Aliyah Salmon, are creating 

woven rugs as art that expresses Black life 

in the 21st century. Pieces that we can add 

to our own homes, honoring our cultural 

heritage and woven legacy. 

Curves by Sean Brown 

Multicolor Archway Door 

Mat $150 

ssense.com 

Amechi Mandi Spill 

Rug $1,562.31 

floorstory.co.uk 

Jensin Okunishi Studio 

Moon Pools Rug 

aphrochic.com 

contact for price 

26 aphrochic

Ananda Natural 

Pop Rug $419 

ruggable.com 

Faatimah Mohamed Luke 

Coir Door Mat $6.92 

mrpricehome.com 

Justina Blakeney X Loloi 

Villagio Area Rug, starting at 

$51.92 wayfair.com 

Eva Sonaike 

Copper Batik Rug 

$1,945 

evasonaike.com 

Little Wing Lee 

Echoic Rug 

verso.nyc 


Yinka Ilori Omi 

Rug $1814.49 

yinkailori.com 

Punch Needle 

Textile Art by Aliyah 

Salmon 

aliyahsalmon.com 


issue fifteen 27

FEATURES 

A World Within Itself | A Mid-Century Modern Dream | Art for the People | 

Soul Ramen | The Joy of Spring | Exploring Black History in the City of 

Brotherly Love | Radically Reimagined | A Better Life | BLKBOK

Fashion 

A World 

Within Itself 

Where East Meets West in the Diasporic Expression 

by Fashion Brand Kwasi Paul 

Embracing the in-between can feel uncomfortable for many. However, fashion 

brand Kwasi Paul thrives in the unknown; weaving its own identity and building 

a world that lives at the intersection of Eastern and Western worlds within the 

African Diaspora. 

The essence of the brand transcends borders, with its unique narrative that 

draws from the past and embodies the spirit of "future ancestors.” In the brand's 

latest collection, Market Symphonies, “the symphonic juxtaposition of an African 

Market in a foreign world” is explored. The collection is a captivating array of 

menswear and womenswear masterpieces that double as wearable art. The 

brand offers a kind of parallel between modernity and tradition with timeless 

cuts, precise tailoring, and striking cultural embellishments. Details such as 

people, spices, peppers, and cowrie shells, converge to represent the soul of the 

African Market. 

Interview by Krystle DeSantos 

Photos by Kwasi Paul 

30 aphrochic

Fashion 

The creative direction is a stroke of 

genius. Photo shoots in iconic New York City 

locations like Keita West African Market in 

Brooklyn and the Shabazz Market on 116th 

Street in Harlem, remind us that shared 

connections and community transcend 

physical boundaries. The brand explores 

the unique blend of culture and tradition, 

while embracing self-expression as well 

as fluidity in who gets to wear what. To 

complete the experience of this collection, 

there is a complementary Spotify playlist, 

Sounds of Kwasi Paul Vol II: Market Symphonies, 

where you can immerse yourself 

further into this vibrant world. 

AphroChic sat down with Creative 

Director Sam Kwabena Boakye to discuss 

the brand further and learn more about 

what the future holds for Kwasi Paul. 

AC: Could you bring us into the world 

of Kwasi Paul? What would someone who's 

not familiar with the brand experience upon 

entering this world? 

SB: It's funny that you use the term 

world because I feel like Kwasi Paul is a 

world within itself, created by two distinct 

worlds. Sometimes I like to describe it as 

a world that was created from the debris 

of the Western world and the African 

Diaspora world. I say that because I draw 

my inspiration from both worlds, having 

been first-born generation. I was raised 

in a household where in one situation, everybody's 

speaking your native language, 

listening to the native music, and eating 

native foods. Then as soon as you step out 

of that household, you're introduced into 

the Western world. It was always a back 

and forth, so I pull a lot of inspiration from 

my experience, being raised in that in-between 

space where the African and Western 

worlds come together. 

AC: Tell me more about your backstory 

as well as your experience growing up in 

America. How did that inspire and influence 

Sam Kwabena Boakye 

your journey to becoming the Creative 

Director of Kwasi Paul? 

SB: Absolutely! My parents are from 

Ghana, West Africa, and were raised in a 

village called Mampong that's located in the 

Ashanti region, not too far from Kumasi. 

I was born in the Bronx, but was also 

raised in LeFrak City, Queens, two areas 

where culture is very distinct. If you know 

anything about the Bronx, sometimes it’s 

also referred to as Little Accra because if 

you're coming from Ghana and relocating 

to the States, you'll probably end up in the 

Bronx or in LeFrak City, where there's also 

a heavy Ghanaian community. Both areas 

also have really strong Black cultural connections 

tied to them; such as the Bronx 

being the birthplace of Hip Hop. I was 

obviously exposed to all of that, but then 

I was also exposed to Ghanaian culture 

within the household, as my parents tried 

their best to keep that prevalent. 

There are some challenges that 

come with being the first-born generation 

too, sometimes you feel like you're not 

fully accepted in one culture or the other. 

Growing up in the West, we heard derogatory 

terms like "African booty scratcher," 

people messing up your last name, or having 

this negative depiction of what Africa looks 

like. But on the other hand, when I visit 

Ghana, some think I'm like an alien and 

might even say things like, “We know you're 

not from here, your skin is different” or I 

would be made fun of when I tried to speak 

the language because I wasn’t as fluent or 

my sound was different. This is probably the 

reason why I don't speak it as much now, but 

I understand everything. 

These were some of the experiences 

that shaped who I am today and though 

it sometimes feels like I don't fully belong 

in one world, there is a positive perspective 

in that I'm from both worlds and I’m able to 

navigate through both, taking on so much 

from both cultures and making it my own! 

Whether it’s music, art, or fashion, I am able 

to make more of a correlation between both 

worlds compared to somebody that's from 

one, who has just seen it from one perspective. 

AC: What sense of responsibility do you 

feel towards both communities? 

SB: Sometimes within our communities 

there tends to be a kind of separation 

between African-American culture and 

culture within the African Diaspora, but 

I think one of the great things about being 

born in between is that we hold the key. We 

are able to be a bridge for sharing ideas and 

bringing us together. 

I think that as first-born generations or 

people that just moved to a different world, 

it's our responsibility to create that connection 

because we're better as a community, 

we're better as a group, and we're stronger. 

In my stories, I’m trying to portray this 

sentiment while also trying to educate and 

teach people through my collections and 

32 aphrochic

issue fifteen 33

Fashion 

I think many from the Diaspora can relate in some way. In 

my recent Market collection, there are images with Milo in 

the background and you don't have to be Ghanaian to understand 

the importance of drinking Milo in the morning, you 

know what I'm saying? You could be from Trinidad, Jamaica, 

or Guyana, and understand how important that is and feel 

that connection. When you look at our editorials, you don't 

have to be taught why someone is braiding hair in somebody's 

kitchen. You could be from Ghana, the Caribbean, or even the 

South, and this is something that's prevalent in a lot of our 

families and communities. Being able to tell these stories and 

have so many people talk about it and say, “oh my gosh, I went 

through that same thing,” is a start in building that bridge 

and connection. 

AC: With your visuals and designs, there is a noticeable 

vintage/retro vibe. What is the creative stylistic choice behind 

that aesthetic and how does this ultimately influence your 

design decisions? 

SB: I love nostalgia and living in the past. Recently 

I’ve been watching re-runs of the sitcom A Different World. 

Sometimes it feels like the world is moving so fast and I loved 

that show when I was growing up in the early '90s. Re-watching 

it now creates nostalgia for a time of innocence in my 

life, when I didn't have to worry about looking after myself, 

and I’m trying to recreate that feeling of nostalgia with my 

visuals. 

Growing up, I also enjoyed watching my uncles and 

aunts get dressed up to go to parties and events and even 

looking back at my family's photo albums, I’m able to draw a 

lot of inspiration from what was happening or taking place in 

the '70s and '80s before I was born. I use that mix of inspiration 

when it comes to the craftsmanship, the silhouettes that 

we create, and designs that we do. Even with our storytelling 

those influences are strong and were very prevalent in one 

of our very first collections, From Gold Coast to East Coast. I 

took complete inspiration for that collection from my parents' 

photo albums and experiences from growing up as well. 

AC: You referenced the world feeling like it’s moving so 

fast right now and we tend to see that reflected in the fashion 

industry as well. However, Kwasi Paul’s approach to designing 

collections is distinctive. What do you feel sets you apart from 

other designers? 

SB: I'll try to be as transparent as possible. All I'm really 

doing is telling a story through my own lens. There are a 

lot of other great designers that tell very similar stories, 

for example you have Wales Bonner, who’s telling it from a 

Caribbean/UK perspective and I’m telling it from the perspective 

of a Ghanaian, who was born in the Bronx, raised in 

LeFrak City with roots from the Ashanti region. I really try 

to tap into those unique elements, leveraging the history that 

exists in those regions while intertwining them into my own 

expression; which is going to be different when compared to 

someone else. 

I also try to look at other mediums of communication 

and how we can evoke emotions within the storytelling of 

each collection. I never want to just spitball history facts or 

information, but I aim to understand how we communicate 

history, through music, movement, sound; through the 

senses, whether it's taste or touch. I think this also separates 

us from other brands. For example, the Milo beverage would 

be an example of communicating through the senses of 

sight and even taste. As soon as you see it, you think, “Oh, I 

remember how good Milo tasted back in the day.” Or with the 

African Market, you can remember what it feels like, walking 

into the market and recall the smells of spices. 

AC: I love that perspective and sensory experience! While 

we’re on the topic of design, you’re primarily a menswear brand 

but there is fluidity with your clothing, where anyone can appreciate 

and even wear the pieces. Is that intentional as part of 

the design process? 

SB: To be honest, it's actually not intentional. I attended 

LATTC in Los Angeles for menswear tailoring so I start with 

menswear because that is my background. And then growing 

up I was a church boy, so I wore suits every Sunday. 

I also just love the way menswear looks on women, so 

the way I design, it really does come off as fluidity and things 

of that nature. I take a lot of inspiration from back in the day, 

when clothing was also very fluid, like in the '70s, with both 

men and women wearing bell bottoms and crop tops. Part of 

Kwasi Paul is just ongoing research, trying new things, and 

cultivating creativity. 

AC: Speaking of cultivating creativity and trying new things, 

there is mention of The REVIVAL Mission on your website. What 

is that and what can we expect from that initiative? 

SB: We've been working on that initiative for a long time, 

since the inception of Kwasi Paul. I have a friend, Yayra, who 

is based out of Ghana, and he’s in an area called Kantamanto, 

which is the largest secondhand fashion market in Ghana. 

And as a designer, I feel like there should be a sense of responsibility 

coming into this world because, in full transparency, 

fashion is responsible for a lot of pollution that happens there. 

So with The REVIVAL mission, we’re looking to do some type 

of collaboration, whether it's through textile, whether it's 

through design, or even just giving proceeds to The REVIVAL 

mission that he has there. 

What he's looking to do is pretty much take second- 

34 aphrochic

Fashion 

36 aphrochic

issue fifteen 37

Fashion 

hand fashion to another level and turn the city of Kantamanto 

around, from the depiction of it being just a hub for brands 

to dump their pieces or bootlegs, and turn it into a design city. 

We talk like once every three months and we're like, “Yo, s'up, 

let's do something.” I literally just spoke to him today so I'm 

hoping that maybe by 2025 we can do a collection that introduces 

the upcycling aspect to Kwasi Paul and have that be 

really authentic and organic and somehow implement that 

within our processes and then also help build Kantamanto. 

I told him, I'd love to one day make Kantamanto look like 

the Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills without having to gentrify 

it and make sure that it's actually going to benefit the people 

that live in that area, bringing money to the area so it can be 

built up and not looked at as a fashion dump. One of my goals 

is not just to design clothes, but I also want to design worlds 

and places, hence “the world” of Kwasi Paul. 

In addition to The REVIVAL being this kind of upcycle 

organization, they also have a mini brand as well and it’s 

called The Revival Earth by Yayra Agbofah. Check them out! 

AC: I’m really excited to see that collaboration come to 

fruition by 2025 and as we look to the future, what’s on the 

horizon for Kwasi Paul? 

SB: I have a new collection coming up called Black Star 

Groove that's going to be a very fun collection. It's sort of like an 

ode to Hiplife, which is pretty much a musical genre that came 

about in Ghana, inspired by Highlife, but influenced by Hip 

Hop. It serves as a sense of freedom, going against the norm and 

is an era I grew up in. Artists like Daddy Lumba, Kojo Antwi, 

VIP and Ofori Amponsah were played in my household and it 

was also very prevalent within the Y2K era, when we saw a shift 

in style with a lot of denim being worn, Bluetooth headsets, 

baggy jeans and jerseys. Have you heard of Nollywood? It's the 

Nigerian version of Hollywood where that style was also very 

prevalent in the movies around that time. 

With this new collection I’m trying to bring those 

elements to life within the brand while still keeping hints 

of the '70s and '80s with the cuts and things of that nature, 

but we will be playing with denim this time, curating that 

with Fugu and Kente textiles from Ghana. There will also be 

pinches of plant-based leather and then the styling will be a 

little bit newer than what you've seen before. 

We will also be dropping an accompanying four-track 

EP that is influenced by that genre. It will be the sounds of 

Kwasi Paul for the Black Star Groove collection and we’re 

working to decipher what that sound looks like now and in 

years to come. I'm actually having producer Nana Kwabena 

from Wonderland Label, who’s worked very closely with 

artists like Janelle Monae and Jidenna, curate four tracks with 

artists and producers that we're cool with. It's going to be a 

fun and very eclectic collection. AC 

38 aphrochic

issue fifteen 39

Interior Design 

A Mid-Cen

tury Modern Dream


Inside Brazilian Interior Designer 

Ana Claudia Schultz’s Upstate New York Home 

Ana Claudia Schultz has an eye for good design. Born in Brazil and 

raised in Miami, the designer made the move from her Brooklyn 

apartment to her first home in the idyllic town of Hyde Park, N.Y., in 

the mid-2010s. Just two hours north of New York City, the space she 

lovingly refers to as her “forever home” sits with a sparkling view 

of the Hudson River in front and a lush canopy of trees in the back. 

The home features striking mid-century modern architecture and 

a brick red exterior. Inside, layers of unique elements work together 

effortlessly, guided by Ana Claudia’s confident designer’s eye. 

Words by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason 

Photos by Chinasa Cooper 

issue fifteen 43

Interior Design

Interior Design

Interior Design


Everything in the interior was thoughtfully 

designed by Ana Claudia and her husband 

Aaron. On the wall, sketches of the home’s 

original design have been framed, a testament 

to how far the interior has come. Ana Claudia 

and Aaron took on the full-scale renovation, 

bringing a 4,000-square-foot-home that was 

originally built in the 1950s, solidly into the 21st 

century. “We pretty much gut renovated most 

of the house,” says Ana Claudia. “The upstairs 

kitchen, a totally new dining room, we opened 

up the space, removed some stone work that 

was on the fireplace to open that up so that we 

get a nice amount of sunlight everywhere. We 

transformed the mudroom and a downstairs 

bathroom, and we reconfigured the master 

bathroom.” 

The home’s open plan living room is 

bathed in sunlight. Airy and refreshing, windows 

look out onto the river, framing the peaceful 

tableau. Designed to easily seat 10 to 15 guests, 

a large sectional in the living room is situated to 

comfortably view the great outdoors. A second, 

streamlined sofa is featured alongside a vintage 

coffee table that Ana Claudia discovered. Two 

more vintage finds — Vernon Panton Flowerpot 

Lamps — add to the room’s color palette of 

black, blue, and red. “In my home I want to bring 

in things that I really love,” remarks Ana Claudia. 

“Things that tell a story. Even if we bought it at 

a vintage store that’s a story to us — of a local 

artist, or a place we visited.” 

The fireplace, an eyesore when the couple 

first bought the home, has been designed to 

make a bold statement, tiled to resemble the 

sidewalks of Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. “It’s 

actually based upon a Portuguese pattern,” says 

Ana Claudia. “Landscape architect Roberto 

Burle Marx created the patterns in Rio. My 

husband asked if we could get the Copacabana 

tile and we found this cement tile and decided to 

put it on the fireplace.” 

In the dining room, seating reminiscent 

of George Nakashima’s Straight-Back Chair 

surrounds a traditional style dining table. The 

mix of influences, including a jaguar clay pot 

from Mexico, is a reflection of Ana Claudia’s love 

of art and design from various cultures. “I’m 

Brazilian, so culturally I bring in a little bit of 

the Brazilian culture. My husband is American 

and I grew up in America, too, so we bring in 

American design as well.” 

Through the dining room, the kitchen 

includes custom details that stand out as 

unique statement pieces. Chevron tile creates 

a graphic display as the backsplash behind 

the range. And at the center of the kitchen, an 

island has been designed that blends stone and 

natural wood in an unexpected way. The mix of 

materials adds to the home’s story of mid-century 

modern design that’s also personal and 

outside of the box. “In Brazil mid-century 

was so integrated into a lot of the architecture. 

You might live in a mid-century home, but 

you would have things of the past present in it 

— your grandmother’s doilies, trunks passed 

down from family members. So we took cues 

from that and felt very comfortable making this 

home bold and personal to us.” 

An eye for discovering unique vintage 

pieces, Ana Claudia’s talent is on display in the 

home’s main bedroom. Two unique side tables 

blend mid-century style with eclectic craftsmanship, 

as figurative art has been sculpted 

into each table’s design. A large-scale dresser, 

also vintage, is topped with a collection of vases 

and plants that have a backdrop of the lush 

landscape that surrounds this upstate home. 

The room’s pièce de résistance is a mural 

designed by Ana Claudia and installed by a local 

artist. The abstract design is repeated in painted 

lamp shades on the bedside tables. “Artwork 

is very important for your home,” says Ana 

Claudia. “I like art that’s not about trends, but 

that speaks to the heart.” 

A walk down the stairs and you enter the 

lower level of the interior. Built for family gatherings, 

Ana Claudia has created unique spaces 

for restful retreats in every nook. Just below 

the staircase a reading nook has been carved 

out. Favorite books are on display along with a 

collection of plants nurtured by Ana Claudia’s 

green thumb. A windsor chair invites visitors 

to take a seat and read a good book. And in the 

family room a mid-century modern console 

doubles as a bar cart for entertaining. 

This “forever home” designed by Ana 

Claudia and Aaron is filled to the brim with 

personal style, eclectic belongings, and pieces 

that tell their story. "There's pieces from my 

family in Brazil: a coffee grinder that belonged to 

my grandparents; cowhide trunks that belonged 

to cattle farmers in my dad’s family, a painting 

by a friend that has moved with me over the 

years and now sits in our dining room. There's 

even a model from my architectural school days 

— things that I really love, that tell a story, that 

bring soul to this house." AC 

issue fifteen 49

Interior Design

issue fifteen 51


52 aphrochic

issue fifteen 53

Interior Design

Culture 

Art For The People 

Adams, Woman in Grayscale (Alicia) 

56 aphrochic

Adams, Man in Grayscale (Swizz) 

issue fifteen 57

Culture 

Inside The Dean Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 

On a Saturday night in Februar y, one of the most signif icant art exhibitions 

of the 21st century opened at the Brooklyn Museum — Giants: Art from 

the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. Featuring 98 major 

artworks by artists from across the African Diaspora, the international 

show includes works by legendary artists, pieces that expand the canon 

of contemporary art, and monumental efforts by artists who are shifting 

the landscape of the art world. 

. 

Words by Jeanine Hays 

Photos furnished by the Brooklyn Museum 

Spann, Basking in the Wind (left) 

58 aphrochic

ELEVATING THE 

Conversation 

JEANINE HAYS AND BRYAN MASON, AUTHORS 

OF APHROCHIC: CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF 

THE BLACK FAMILY HOME, JOIN THE TOP 

LITERARY THOUGHT LEADERS AT THE PENGUIN 

RANDOM HOUSE SPEAKERS BUREAU TO SPEAK 

ON TOPICS SURROUNDING BLACK CULTURE, 

HOUSING EQUITY AND THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF 

DESIGN IN AMERICA.

Culture 

The works presented in the exhibition 

are from a “who’s who” of the greatest and most 

discussed artists in the world today — Kehinde 

Wiley, Amy Sherald, Barkley L. Hendricks, Jamel 

Shabazz, Gordon Parks, Nina Chanel Abney, 

Toyin Ojih Odotula, and Nick Cave, to name a few. 

If you’re an art aficionado, the very idea of all of 

these incredible artists showing their work in a 

single exhibit gives you goosebumps. And if you’re 

a historian, the exhibition gives you pause, as 

there are just a handful of international exhibits 

that have existed that celebrate Black art in such a 

way. “The title Giants is so important, because the 

artists are giant,” reports Swizz. 

The Dean Collection itself has become 

a giant in the art world, founded by Kasseem 

Dean (Swizz Beatz) and Alicia Keys in 2014. From 

its inception, it was clear that the couple had a 

unique lens in the art world. They weren’t interested 

in building a static collection to floss wealth, 

or gobbling up Black art and locking it away in 

warehouses. Instead, the Dean Collection was 

imagined as both a family collection and a cultural 

platform. One focused on supporting the careers 

of living artists, particularly artists of color, and 

democratizing art to make it accessible to all. 

Born and bred in New York City, with early 

roots in the music industry, it’s no surprise that 

these music icons have creatively thought outside 

of the box as art collectors. Hailing from the 

Bronx, Swizz became a producer for his family’s 

record label, Ruff Ryders, when he was only 17, 

while Keys, a 15-time Grammy award winning 

artist, whose semi-autobiographical show Hell’s 

Kitchen recently opened on Broadway, has been 

making waves since dropping her debut album at 

the age of 20. Together, the two are blending their 

deep love of art and music with the Dean Collection. 

In 2016, they launched No Commission. The 

immersive art and music experience started in 

the South Bronx with a distinctive concept. People 

from the community could come to a festival, ride 

a ferris wheel, listen to local musicians like A$AP 

Rocky and Cardi B, and walk through an extraordinary 

gallery located in an on-site warehouse 

showcasing works by artists like Delphine 

Diallo, Jerome Lagarrigue, and Jeffrey Gibson. 

No pretense, no fuss, just fun. Artists were in the 

room, Swizz was in the DJ booth, and the Dean 

Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys 

Hendricks, Rainbow Sky at Sunset 

60 aphrochic

Patterson, ...they were just hanging out you know...talking about... (...when they grow up...) 

Collection had successfully taken art outside of 

the world of downtown white box galleries and 

returned it to the people. 

In addition to being a fun event, No Commission 

represented a revolutionary new idea 

in the art world. The artists who participated in 

the global event that traveled to Miami, London, 

Berlin, and Shanghai, were able to keep 100% of 

the proceeds from the works they sold, putting 

millions of dollars directly into the hands of living 

artists, something deeply important to the Deans. 

“I'm a producer, I'm a songwriter. Every time it's 

played on the radio, I get paid. Every time it's 

played in a movie, I get paid. Every time it plays, 

period, I get paid. Visual artists, they only get paid 

once,” Swizz stated in a discussion on supporting 

living artists with TED. “How, when paintings 

are sold and traded multiple times? And that's 

that artist's lifetime work, that other people are 

making 10, 15, sometimes 100 times more than 

the artist that created it. So I created something 

called the Dean's Choice, where if you're a 

seller, or a collector, and you bring your work into, 

let's say, Sotheby's, there's a paper that's there 

that says, ‘Hey, guys, you know, this artist is still 

living. You've made 300% on your investment by 

working with this artist. You can choose to give 

the artist whatever you want of the sale.’ It'll start 

to change everything in the arts.” And it has. In 

2018, Swizz was part of the sale of Kerry James 

Marshall’s, Past Times (1997). The piece sold for 

$21.1 million at Sotheby’s, making Marshall the 

highest-selling, living African American artist to 

date. 

In May of 2018, the Dean Collection made 

another stunning move in the art world. Swizz and 

Alicia announced the acquisition of more than 80 

photographs by famed photographer Gordon 

Parks. The landmark acquisition of works by one 

of the greatest photographers of the 20th century 

included important archives of Black history — 

photographs of Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Langston 

Hughes, Muhammad Ali, as well as images of 

Black life in the rural south during Jim Crow, on 

the streets of Harlem, and in the favelas of Rio de 

Janeiro. The acquisition was also an important 

showcase of something that is not seen often — 

Black collectors being able to collect Black art. 

issue fifteen 61

Culture 

“The collection started not just because we’re 

art lovers, but also because there’s not enough 

people of color collecting artists of color,” 

Swizz told Cultured magazine in 2018. 

In 2019, the Dean Collection launched the 

exhibition, Gordon Parks: Selections From The 

Dean Collection at the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery 

of African & African American Art at Harvard 

University. “The Deans have been important 

champions of the work of Gordon Parks, and 

this exhibition is an opportunity to share his 

work with a broader audience through the outstanding 

platform offered by Harvard University,” 

Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Executive Director 

of The Gordon Parks Foundation stated at the 

time. “The exhibition additionally builds on the 

Foundation’s strong history of collaborative 

programming with leading institutions in the 

mounting of exhibitions, conferral of scholarships, 

and mounting of public programs that 

engage the public with Parks’ legacy.” 

Today, Swizz and Alicia are known not 

only for their music genius, but for their shared 

passion in collecting, supporting and building 

community among artists of color. And their 

Giants exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum is 

a testament to all that they have done and will 

continue to do to create an art world where 

Black artists can thrive. “Swizz Beatz and 

Alicia Keys have been among the most vocal 

advocates for Black creatives to support Black 

artists through their collecting, advocacy, and 

partnerships. In the process, they have created 

one of the most important collections of contemporary 

art,” notes Anne Pasternak, the 

Shelby White and Leon Levy Director of the 

Brooklyn Museum. 

Stepping into the exhibit, it’s clear that 

Giants is something special. It recalls past exhibitions 

at the Brooklyn Museum that have 

been central to it’s focus on expanding the 

art-historical narrative: Kehinde Wiley: A New 

Republic in 2015; We Wanted a Revolution: Black 

Radical Women, 1965-85 in 2017; and Soul of A 

Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power in 2018. 

Broken into five parts, the exhibition 

opens in “Becoming Giants” where viewers are 

introduced to Swizz and Alicia’s creative lives 

and their sources of inspiration. It then moves 

to “On The Shoulders of Giants” paying homage 

to legendary artists who have made their mark 

on the world — pieces by Esther Mahlangu, 

Kwame Braithwaite, and Gordon Parks are in 

conversation with Barkley L. Hendricks, Malick 

Sidibé, and Sanlé Sory. In “Giant Conversations” 

the artwork is focused on social critique, 

with the artists on view addressing a range of 

issues that Black people have faced throughout 

the 20th and 21st centuries. 

Nick Cave’s protective sound suits 

are presented along with Lorna Simpson’s 

collages focused on Black women’s self-representation. 

Viewers then explore giant conversations 

focused on celebrating Blackness. 

Jamel Shabazz’s street photography of 1980s 

New York City is exceptionally fly. And Amy 

Sherald’s colorful diptychs celebrating Baltimore’s 

dirt bike culture show a joyful 

freedom. And in the final stage of the exhibition, 

“Giant Presence”, you see awe-inspiring 

pieces by Nina Chanel Abney, Titus 

Kaphar, and Meleko Mokgosi, that use scale 

to emphasize powerful themes that resonate 

across history. 

But Giants does not end there. In keeping 

with the mission of the Dean Collection, 

pop-up talks that invite community engagement 

will be held throughout the exhibition’s 

run, and a special shop has been curated with 

accessible pieces by the artists showcased. A 

budding collector can take home a Giants exhibition 

poster featuring the work of Toyin Ojih 

Odotula, signed by the artist; pick up a limited 

edition bone china plate featuring the work of 

Henry Taylor; and order the accompanying exhibition 

catalog to be published by Phaidon in 

June. 

Giants is truly one of those once-in-alifetime 

exhibitions that changes the way you 

feel, experience and relate to art, understanding 

that art is not best when it’s closed off, but 

is most relevant when it’s among the people. 

“We want people to see themselves,” says 

Keys.“We want people to feel inspired. We want 

you to feel connected and emotional and really 

discover. We want you to see the giants on 

whose shoulders we stand. We want you to see 

that you are also a giant. That you are special, 

incredible, unique.” AC 

62 aphrochic

Mahlangu, Ndebele Abstract 

Odita, Place

Culture 

Sherald, Deliverance (left) 

64 aphrochic

Sherald, Deliverance (right) 

issue fifteen 65

Culture 

Shabazz, Morning Rush Hour, Brooklyn, NYC 

Shabazz, Trio, Brooklyn, NYC 

Wiley, Femme piquée par un serpent 

66 aphrochic

Lawson, Soweto Queen 

Parks, Untitled, Miami, FL, 1966 

issue fifteen 67

68 aphrochic

Food 

Soul Ramen 

A Taste of History and Heritage 

at Ramen By Ra 

On a night in 2022, glittering chandeliers and flickering 

candlelight cast a warm glow across a New York City supper 

club-inspired restaurant where guests were transported for 

one night to the opulent atmosphere of the 1920s. The space was 

filled with the rhythmic melody of live jazz intertwined with the 

captivating movements of beautiful Black burlesque dancers. 

Not your average soirée, it was Bowery Sugar, a pop-up style 

experience that celebrated Black History Month and honored the 

Harlem Renaissance through the vibrant intersection of music, 

performance and, most importantly, food. 

Words by Krystle DeSantos 

Photos by Rashida Zagon 

issue fifteen 69

Food 

Amidst the ambiance, culinary artist, Chef Rasheeda Purdie 

unveiled her masterful creations which included a show-stopping 

Shoyu Ramen artfully served in vintage-style coupes, complete with a 

smoked soy egg, okra spice, and black garlic. An intentional dance of 

flavors and a distinctive culinary skill of weaving narrative through 

food, the dishes prepared by the chef were captivating. 

On display was Rasheeda’s unique approach — a creative combination 

of history, culture, and vibrant flavors that spark nostalgia, 

while simultaneously being innovative. In a genre of cooking where 

Black chefs are few and far between, Rasheeda’s ramen dishes and her 

journey are equally intriguing. Her path to the culinary arts was an unconventional 

one. For nearly a decade Rasheeda flourished as a stylist 

and personal shopper at the iconic women’s department store Henri 

Bendel. While the work brought her joy, a shift in the brand's direction 

prompted her to craft a Plan B as she anticipated the store’s closure. 

Yearning for a new creative outlet, Rasheeda took a bold leap of faith 

by enrolling in culinary school, juggling full-time work with part-time 

cooking. 

For Rasheeda, the worlds of fashion and food were related. 

"Fashion and food are intrinsically linked. They complement each other 

in a way that can't be denied. At fashion events, cocktails and culinary 

delights are often served together, creating a symphony of creativity,” 

she says. By 2016, she had graduated from culinary school, and by 2019 

she was ready to fully embrace her new path as Henri Bendel closed its 

doors. “My journey began with styling people, but I soon found myself 

drawn towards styling food. It's a wonderful creative outlet that is both 

vibrant and delicious. The colors, flavors, and textures of food make for 

a bold and captivating fashion statement.” 

In 2008, when Rasheeda left Maryland to pursue a life of fashion in 

New York, the move was met with raised eyebrows from those around 

her. She experienced that reaction again as, now a full-fledged chef, she 

made another leap to realize the dream of starting her own restaurant. 

But the fashionista-turned-chef-turned restaurateur has never been 

one to let others steer her compass. “For as long as I can remember," she 

explains, "I've always charted my own course and spoken my dreams 

into existence. It's just the way I'm wired." 

Guided by a lifelong fascination with Asian culture, Rasheeda 

became focused on a dish she had long-loved — ramen. “Before 

COVID-19 hit, I would eat ramen 2 to 3 times a week,” she admits. "After 

the restaurants closed down, I was determined to learn how to make 

it myself.” She dug deep into the heart of ramen's history, immersing 

herself in books such as The Untold History of Ramen and documentaries 

that ignited a deeper appreciation for Asian culture, music, the 

skills of chefs and the serene landscapes of Asian countries, like Japan. 

At the end 2023 her dream came true. Purdie made history opening the 

very first Black and woman-owned ramen restaurant in New York City 

— Ramen by Ra, located in The Bowery Market. 

The restaurant offers a revitalized “asa-ramen” experience, 

a term that refers to Japan’s ramen breakfast culture. Dishes are 

inspired by Southern/Asian/American cuisine and culture, where 

Japanese and American brunch culture collide. The menu draws inspiration 

from toppings traditionally used in ramen while also connecting 

to soulful American favorites. To maintain tradition, each 

ramen starts with a classic shoyu broth as a base that’s enhanced 

with infused oils and paste to differentiate the flavor of one bowl 

from the next. But Rasheeda’s flavor profiles go even deeper, connecting 

with the chef’s southern roots, offering a balanced taste of 

familiarity and innovation with unique ramen dishes such as Bacon, 

Egg & Cheese, that includes smoked bacon and a seasoned egg 

parmesan; Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato, a BLT-inspired dish featuring 

roasted tomato and leeks; and Steak & Soy Egg, with a chimichurri-shoyu 

and sesame. 

Rasheeda credits her grandmothers for the unique flavor combinations 

found in her dishes. Her Nana Lucy, who hailed from South 

Carolina, was known for her collard greens, and Grandma Remae, 

from Tarheel, N.C., taught her the southern tradition and art of preserving 

everything, from “garden to a jar.” Both influences are echoed 

in Rasheeda's recipes, from her use of greens, to pickling vegetables 

and red onions, to preserving tomatoes for her Bacon, Lettuce & 

Tomato Ramen. More than just culinary techniques, these influences 

are a heartfelt homage to her heritage, adding a layer of soulfulness to 

every slurp. 

Rasheeda also finds inspiration closer to her home in New York 

City, drawing parallels with the legacy of Black culinary pioneer 

Princess Pamela. The iconic soul food chef and author celebrated for 

her authentic southern recipes, ran the famed speakeasy-style restaurant 

The Little Kitchen in the 1960s and 1970s. Its first Lower Manhattan 

location is a mere 12-minute walk from Rasheeda's restaurant in the 

Bowery. The serendipitous proximity feels almost symbolic, like a metaphorical 

passing of the torch from one groundbreaking Black woman 

chef to another, each revolutionizing the culinary landscape in their 

own way. 

“Life is a journey full of opportunities, but it's up to you to take the 

leap of faith and pursue your dreams,” says Rasheeda. Her dream fully 

realized, each dish at Ramen By Ra is revolutionary as diverse culinary 

traditions converge, drawing inspiration from both Asian and southern 

American influences. Her ramen is a journey through history, culture, 

and personal connection, all in a single bowl. AC 

70 aphrochic

“Life is a journey full 

of opportunities, but 

it's up to you to take 

the leap of faith and 

pursue your dreams.” 

- Rasheeda Purdie

Food 

72 aphrochic

Entertaining 

The Joy 

of Spring 

Master Floral Designer John L. Goodman 

Designs a Whimsical Springtime Tale 

There are a million ways to tell a story, and each of them can bring 

something different to the tale. A book can make us think, music can 

make us feel, and art can help us see the world in a different way. Then 

there’s the way John L. Goodman tells a story — an expansive, immersive 

blend of hard work, whimsy and high art spread out over that unlikeliest 

of canvases, a dining table. John’s tablescapes do more than present the 

story to us, they pull us in, literally altering the world around us to let us 

experience the story not as a reader, but as a character. It’s John’s way of 

bringing to the world the things he thinks it needs most. “The world needs 

imagination, love, and compassion,” John observes simply. “I use my art to 

tell stories.” 


Photos furnished by JL Goodman Design 

74 aphrochic

Entertaining 

The table artist’s most recent recitation 

is of Peter Rabbit, the precocious 

bunny created by Beatrix Potter, whose adventures 

unfolded over a series of six books 

published between 1902 and 1912. Though 

Peter’s popularity has hardly waned since 

becoming the very first character licensed 

to be a stuffed animal in 1903, his world 

might seem a curious one to bring to life on 

a table. For John, however, the choice was 

not only natural but obvious. “The Tale of 

Peter Rabbit was one of my favorite books 

growing up as a kid and I wanted to reinterpret 

the story into a spring table,” Goodman 

relates. The result is a beautiful table design 

perfect for spring holidays like Easter or 

May Day, or any day that could use a bit 

more whimsy and color. 

From the pages of Potter’s books and 

the childhood imagination of millions, 

Goodman’s design brings Mr. McGregor’s 

English garden to life with a mix of lavender 

roses, fuchsia orchids, and pale pink ranunculus 

among a bed of the radishes, cabbage, 

squash, and carrots that Peter was always 

only too eager to snack on. A hanging canopy 

of branches with a nest of bright blue eggs 

adds to the springtime tableau as colorful 

butterflies flutter overhead. 

Nestled among the leaves of the garden, 

Goodman conjures a modern English tea 

party with beautiful china and colorful 

flatware laid out in a mix of pastel shades. 

Coral napkins add even more energy to the 

mix while sweet tea cups and dessert plates 

are grounded by earthy chargers conjuring 

images of the naughty rabbit squeezing 

himself between the ground and the gate, 

defying his mother’s instructions to steer 

clear of Mr. McGregor’s garden. 

Peter himself sleeps in the garden, 

situated cozily beneath the canopy, full 

from carrots and cabbage, and dreaming 

the day away as the toads and butterflies 

mill around him. Completing the tale, John 

becomes the adventurous bunny himself, 

dressed in Peter’s signature blue jacket and 

a very floppy-eared hat. 

Like many of his designs, Goodman’s 

lush and abundant tablescape isn’t meant 

simply to be admired, but recreated. The 

artist compiled a list of elements he used 

to create the design on Amazon, right 

down to Peter’s iconic blue jacket and the 

floppy bunny ears he wore to complete 

the aesthetic. John hopes that the act of 

crafting the scene personally might evoke 

joy in children and adults alike — especially 

those with fond memories of reading the 

Beatrix Potter books when they were small 

— sparking some of that “imagination, love 

and compassion,” we all need so much right 

now. AC 

Shop the look on the JL Goodman Amazon 

page to create your very own Peter Rabbit-inspired 

tablescape. 

76 aphrochic

Entertaining 

78 aphrochic

City Stories 

Philadelphia 

Exploring Black History 

in the City of Brotherly Love 

Even in a nation as young as America, there are places that resonate with 

history, that remain central to the story as it began and relevant as it 

unfolds. The city of Philadelphia is one of those places. In fact, Philadelphia 

is known primarily for its history. It’s the place where the Declaration of 

Independence and Constitution were signed, the birthplace of the nation, 

the cheesesteak, and the Philadelphia Sound — it’s the city with the stairs 

that Rocky ran up all those times. The story of Philadelphia is an indelible 

part of the American memory. But the whole story is rarely told. 


Photos by Bryan Mason, Dan Mall, Chi Liu, Freddy Do, Jose Antonio Gallego 

Vázquez, Nick Fewings, Chang Ye, Connor Gan, Denys Barabanov 

Untitled by Amy Sherald. Photo by Denys Barabanov 

80 aphrochic

City Stories

Center City Philadelphia skyline. Photo by Nick Fewings

City Stories 

Originally settled by the Lenape people, enslaved 

Africans arrived in the area long before William Penn, 

brought as early as 1639 by Dutch and Swedish colonizers. 

By 1681, the land on which the city was founded had 

changed colonial hands several times, oscillating between 

the Dutch and Swedes before falling under English governance. 

It was ceded to William Penn by England’s King 

Charles II, in part due to a debt the king owed to Penn’s 

deceased father. Penn envisioned his “City of Brotherly 

Love,” as a Quaker settlement founded on principles of 

religious freedom. 

The city grew quickly, increasing in population 

and commercial importance until the late 1700s, when it 

became the place from which a new nation announced its 

independence, and then its first capitol. By then, enslaved 

Africans were one-twelfth of the city’s population, with 

a free Black population of 500. By the end of the Revolutionary 

War, the number of free Black people in Philadelphia 

had more than doubled, and would continue to 

grow, reaching over 6,000 by 1800. Today, Philadelphia is 

a treasure of Black history, past and present, with stories, 

heroes, and heroines waiting to be remembered and celebrated 

around every corner, enshrined in the city’s architecture, 

culture, and art. 

Stories 

Though the city’s Black history is rarely represented 

on screen, Philadelphia actually does a fairly good job 

of making that history available, with much of it recorded 

on large markers positioned on important sites throughout 

the city. Just taking a walk, whether downtown or in 

neighborhoods like South Philly, Germantown, or Mt. 

Airy, is a chance to run into a diverse array of Black stories 

stretching back to the beginning of the nation. Historical 

markers record the deeds of abolitionists such as 

William Still and Absalom Jones; America’s first female African-American 

Secretary of State, C. DeLores Tucker; its 

first world-renowned musician, the 19th century African 

American composer, Francis Johnson; and Robert Bogle, 

a caterer famed as a Master of Ceremonies for wealthy 

client parties, who opened a “posh” restaurant at 8th and 

Lombard in 1813. 

Architecture 

Philadelphia’s architecture is a big part of the city’s 

appeal, especially in its older districts, and for lovers of 

Black history many of its buildings have something to offer 

as well. At 6th and Market streets, between Independence 

Hall and the Liberty Bell, The President’s House exhibit 

explores the lives of those enslaved on the property by the 

first President of the United States. A partial reconstruction 

of the house, set beside an excavation of its foundation, 

the exhibit provides details on nine people known 

to have lived in bondage with George Washington and his 

wife Martha. Among those listed are Hercules Posey, the 

president’s chef who, like Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved 

chef James Hemmings, stands as one of the architects of 

American cuisine. Along with Ona “Oney” Judge, Posey 

escaped the Washington house successfully, ending their 

time in enslavement. Nevertheless, Washington continued 

to pursue Judge until his death in 1799. 

A short distance away, on 6th and Addison streets 

in Society Hill, Mother Bethel Church sits upon the 

oldest tract of land to be owned continuously by African 

Americans. The site was purchased in 1791 by the formerly 

enslaved Methodist minister and abolitionist Richard 

Allen. Allen was the co-founder, along with Absalom Jones, 

of The Free African Society. The two led a procession of 

Black parishioners away from the racially segregated congregations 

of Philadelphia to found two new communities. 

Jones founded the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas 

at 5th and Adelphi (now St. James Place), the first African 

American Episcopal parish. Allen founded the African 

Methodist Episcopal church — the first African American 

denomination — with Mother Bethel at its center. 

The first building on the site was a former blacksmith’s 

shop that Allen had towed to the spot to serve as 

a place of worship. Though Allen passed away in 1831, the 

A.M.E. church spread quickly, and by 1889 the congregation 

contracted the architectural firm of Hazlehurst & 

Huckel to construct the church as it currently stands. Done 

in the Romanesque Revival style of the 19th century, the 

building features a three-story limestone entrance with 

a four-story tower complete with a full museum of the 

history of the A.M.E. church in its lower levels. Though St. 

Thomas has since moved from its original site, the church 

continues to thrive in its current home in West Philadelphia, 

near Fairmount Park, 

Also in West Philadelphia, the home of athlete, orator, 

actor, and singer Paul Robeson stands as a museum 

dedicated to his life and legacy. Built by architect E. Allen 

Wilson in 1911, the three-story home actually belonged 

to his sister Marian R. Forsythe and her husband Dr. 

James Forsythe. Robeson came to live there in 1966, after 

both his and Marian’s spouses had passed. The retired 

performer, once renowned, was persecuted for his fierce 

advocacy on a number of issues, notably anti-colonial 

movements in Africa and Asia. He was labeled a suspected 

communist and even brought before the House Un-American 

Activities Committee in 1956. He refused to answer 

their questions. Even after moving to Philadelphia in the 

last years of his life, the FBI maintained an open file on 

the elderly singer. Nevertheless, notable friends such as 

Harry Belafonte, Ozzie Davis, and Ruby Dee were familiar 

84 aphrochic

The President’s House Site at Independence 

National Historical Park. 

Photo by Steven L. Markos.

City Stories 

Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo by Chang Ye

City Stories 

Philadelphia Muses by Meg Saligman. Photo by Jose Antonio Gallego Vázquez 

88 aphrochic

Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Photo by Chi Liu 

issue fifteen 89

City Stories 

Historical markers. Photos by Bryan Mason 

presences in the home. 

Another famous Philadelphia home attributed to E. 

Allen Wilson is that of John Coltrane, the towering jazz 

virtuoso who moved to Philadelphia in 1943, purchasing the 

house in 1958 after finishing a term in the Navy. Today the 

home is at the center of an ongoing effort to establish a John 

Coltrane museum. Similarly, Billie Holiday’s South Philadelphia 

home is highlighted by a historical marker, though 

she was born in West Philadelphia, as is the Chinatown site 

that was once home to Sigma Studios, where the legendary 

Philadelphia International Records founded by Kenneth 

Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell created the “Philadelphia 

Sound.” 

But perhaps the city’s most famous architecture is also 

one of its most unsung Black history moments. Of the untold 

millions who have seen Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky running 

up the iconic Art Museum stairs — and the thousands 

who’ve done it themselves — few know the name of Julian 

Abele, the African-American architect who designed the 

museum, and much of the parkway it sits on. 

A descendent of Absalom Jones, Abele was born in 

Philadelphia in 1881 to a well-off family that included seven 

older children. Among his siblings were Dr. Robert Jones 

Abele, one of the six founding members of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity 

— America’s oldest African-American Fraternity 

— Joseph B. Abele, an engineer, and Charles Abele, a metalworker 

and collaborator of Sam Yellin. An accomplished 

student himself, Julian became the first African American 

graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s architecture 

program in 1902. By 1909 he had quickly risen to the position 

of chief designer at the prestigious Horace Trumbauer firm. 

After Trumbauer’s death in 1938, Abele took over the office 

completely, maintaining the name and brand. 

In addition to the Philadelphia Art Museum, credited 

with setting the tone and aesthetic for the Philadelphia 

Parkway as a whole, Abele’s works include the Philadelphia 

Free Library, numerous mansions and estates and much of 

Duke University. An all-white university until 1961, Duke has 

acknowledged Abele’s contribution to its campus by naming 

its residential quad in his honor. 

Art 

Philadelphia is the mural capital of the world, with 

more than 4,000 murals spread throughout the city, 

many of them by Black artists or depicting the city’s Black 

history past and present. Within that group, the topics 

range broadly from tributes to sports figures like Dr. J 

and Smokin’ Joe Frazier to famed Philadelphia musicians 

like John Coltrane and South Philly native Tariq Trotter — 

better known as Black Thought. A mural at the intersection 

of South Juniper and Cypress pays tribute to luminary 

90 aphrochic

Octavius V. Catto Memorial. 

Photo by Dan Mall

City Stories 

scholar Alain Locke, architect of the New Negro Movement 

— more commonly known as the Harlem Renaissance, while 

others pay homage to more abstract concepts in works such 

as Legacy (7th & Chestnut), ASpire: No Limits (South 21st & 

Ellsworth), and Cecil B. Moore Philadelphia Freedom Fighters 

(22nd & College). Similarly pieces like We Still Here in Germantown 

and We Are Universal on Frankford Avenue speak 

to the enduring resilience of the Black community in Philadelphia 

and everywhere. 

The rich arts culture of Philadelphia, both its schools 

and opportunities for public works, have attracted a 

variety of exceptionally talented artists. Among them is 

Ernel Martinez, the prolific artist responsible for ASpire: 

No Limits, which celebrated the life of Dr. Shawn L. “Air 

Smooth” White, Why We Love Coltrane (29th & Diamond), 

Heart of a Champion: Tribute to Smokin’ Joe Frazier (13th 

& Allegheny), Ed Bradley: Curious, Relentless, Timeless 

(Wyalusing & Belmont), and a 40-foot tall mural of Paul 

Robeson in West Philadelphia, among many others. The Belize-born 

artist was himself inspired by the work of muralist 

and Philadelphia native Pariss Stancell, whose public works 

include A Celebration of Poetry (16th & Girard) and Healing 

Walls: Victim's Journey (Germantown Ave & Clearfield), 

as well as Voa Nu, Pwisans Nu (Our Voice, Our Strength), 

located in Germantown, on which the pair collaborated 

along with another Philly native, artist Felix St. Fort. 

Among the city’s most notable recent murals is the 

stunning work, Untitled, by Michele Obama portraitist, 

Amy Sherald. The six-story, 2,400-square-foot portrait immortalizes 

Najee Spencer-Young, whom Sherald met when 

Mural Arts Philadelphia arranged for students to visit her 

New Jersey studio. A tribute to the young Black women of 

the city, the mural is part of Sherald’s continuing work to 

challenge notions of who is allowed to be comfortable in art 

and public spaces. 

Museums 

For those who like to get their art and history all 

in one place, Philadelphia offers a wide assortment of 

museums with several, like the Franklin Institute and 

Rodin Museum conveniently grouped together on the 

Parkway. Soon to join their number is the African American 

Museum in Philadelphia, the first institution focused on 

the history and culture of African Americans to be built by 

a major U.S. city. The Smithsonian-affiliated museum was 

founded in 1976, during the celebration of America’s Bicentennial. 

Originally called the Afro-American Historical 

and Cultural Museum, it was renamed in 1997. Plans to 

relocate from its Old City location were announced in 2022. 

Currently comprised of four galleries and an auditorium, 

the museum divides its exhibits into three key themes: the 

African Diaspora; the Philadelphia Story; and the Contemporary 

Narrative. In addition to taking its rightful place at 

the city’s cultural center, moving to the Parkway promises 

a massive expansion for the museum, bringing it to a new 

240,000-square-foot location near the Philadelphia Free 

Library designed by Julian Abele. 

Already situated on the Parkway, between the Rodin 

Museum and the Free Library is the Barnes Foundation, a 

museum centered around displaying selected works from 

the collection of Dr. Albert C. Barnes. A wealthy art collector 

who began seriously amassing works in 1912, Barnes was 

an early collector of Picasso and a passionate collector of 

African art. A pioneer of the gallery wall technique for displaying 

artworks, Barnes was notable for his penchant for 

juxtaposing African and European artworks in his compositions, 

along with Greek antiques, Native American 

jewelry and more. Further, Barnes, a friend of Alain Locke 

and through him acquainted with many artists and scholars 

of the Harlem Renaissance, contributed an article, Negro 

Art and America, to Locke’s 1925 anthology, The New Negro, 

and his foundation is credited for contributing reproductions 

of African art pieces to the finished work. Much 

of his extensive collection of African art is included in the 

museum’s permanent collection, which moved to the 

Parkway in 2012. 

The Constitution Center sits directly across from the 

President’s House exhibit at 6th and Market, within sight 

of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. A definite site 

of interest on any Black history tour, the museum does the 

work of weaving Black history into the story of the constitution 

and the nation it founded. Among its attractions 

are an expansive, permanent exhibit on Reconstruction 

and timelines documenting the many times that different 

groups of Black people won and lost the right to vote long 

before the 1965 Voting Rights Act. 

92 aphrochic

Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church. Photo by Dan Mall

City Stories 

The Old City district where most of Philadelphia’s colonial history sits is also one of the best areas for exploring its Black 

history from around the same time. The 1838 Black Metropolis, a group dedicated to shedding new and continued light on the extraordinary 

community of free and educated Black people in Philadelphia before the Civil War, offers walking tours of the city 

during the warmer months of the year. The tours touch on specific sites, emphasizing different aspects of what they name the 

“Philadelphia Black Metropolis.” This “city within a city” consisted of the numerous churches, businesses, social clubs, schools, 

and societies owned and operated by free Black people in the city — a community whose presence and impact has been obscured 

or forgotten in tellings of Philadelphian and American history, along with the hundreds of thousands of other free Black people 

who lived across the country at this time. 

A City of Black Stories 

Philadelphia’s history is as long as America’s, and like America, much of that history includes the lives, struggles, and accomplishments 

of Black people. And while that history is often obscured, an example of the hard work this country continually 

puts into forgetting that it wouldn’t be what it is without the people it labors unceasingly to obstruct, Philadelphia is a place where 

that history is there for the asking, by anyone who wants to know. 

From formerly enslaved preachers turned nation-builders to architects whose vision has stood the test of time; from miles 

and miles of art, tens of feet high, to the musicians, thinkers, ballers, activists, and community spirit they commemorate; from 

the Underground Railroad to the Philadelphia Sound, the City of Brotherly Love (and Sisterly Affection) invites you to explore the 

history of Black America from the very beginning. AC 

Paul Robeson House. Photo by Michael Bixler 

Powel House. Photo by Dan Mall 

94 aphrochic

THE AMUR 

SCONCE 

W A Y F A I R . C O M

Reference 

Introducing 

Radically Reimagined 

The 21st century is nearly a quarter gone — and what do we have to show 

for it? The last five years alone have consisted of rampant global disease 

and death, a parade of genocides across various continents, the predictably 

rapid rise and fall of DEI, an ever-developing climate crisis, and 

repeated waves of economic upheaval leaving more and more people 

jobless, homeless, and hopeless as whole industries divest themselves 

of human beings in favor of AI. Social media platforms have spurred on 

military atrocities; nations have ceded from international unions based on 

rampant disinformation; and in America, alleged criminals plot ways to 

run for and even hold high office from prison. Whether we acknowledge it 

or not, to be alive in the 21st century, just about anywhere in the world, is to 

live in a very strange place at a very strange time. 


Photos by Houcine Ncib 

96 aphrochic

And what are we told in this moment? “Ignore it all. 

Pretend it isn’t happening. Go back to work.” We’re told 

that the staggering levels of governmental apathy these 

issues are met with are all that we can expect. That the 

disdain of billionaires, who hoard the vast majority of the 

planet’s wealth in the hands of less than 1% of its population, 

profiting on the suffering of the rest, is all we deserve. 

Most of all, we’re told that there’s nothing we can do, that 

the end is not only nigh but inevitable, and that our only 

recourse is to just keep producing and consuming in hopes 

that the bad things that are happening all around us don’t 

happen to us. 

At the root of the problem is a very simple misconception: 

that the way things are is the only way they can be. As 

easy as it is to believe that the core structures of our society 

are both ancient and immutable, generally neither is the 

case. Human beings are remarkable among the planet’s 

species for the extent to which we create and control our 

realities. Languages, currencies, cultural conventions, 

family structures, even economic systems and forms of 

government are all human inventions, products of our 

ingenuity — figments of our collective imagination. More 

than any predatory virus or natural disaster beyond our 

control, conceptual structures of human design shape and 

define the human experience, including the ways in which 

we respond (or don’t) to the things we can’t control. So, 

while climate change and COVID-19 are very real problems 

that must be addressed, the millions of us around the world 

who suffer and die from them, among other issues, are 

doing so mainly because we have collectively failed to come 

up with a better idea. 

Part of the reason for this failure is that better ideas 

are not as easy to come by as we might wish. However 

imaginary they may be, the structures that define our 

realities, over time, social inertia, and simple force of habit, 

become ingrained, reified in our minds, as real and solid to 

us as tangible matter. Even when faced with a situation or 

structure that we desperately want to change, we cling to 

the premises and assumptions on which that structure is 

based. Consequently, even when change actually occurs, 

it typically presents us with little more than a different 

iteration of the same idea. 

If, for example, we somehow removed racism from 

America’s hiring practices, or even restructured those 

practices, making Black people the nation’s most employed 

group, that would not preclude discrimination on different 

bases — such as biological sex or gender identity — or 

address the suffering that results from any group being 

pushed to the bottom of an economic hierarchy. At best, 

therefore, it would only offer a different, and not improved, 

version of the same disparity. 

Real change is hard; it requires comprehension and 

honesty about what we intend to do next, what we’ve been 

doing to this point, and why. Change should be positive — 

but it doesn't have to be. We can always do better. We can 

always be worse. The responsibility for deciding is ours 

alone, as are most of the consequences. Change doesn’t 

have to be destructive — but it can be, if it is purely nominal 

or performative, if preventable failures are passed off as unavoidable 

in the hope of maintaining a broken status quo, or 

should we collectively choose to go in the wrong direction. 

When that happens we deepen divisions, reify imaginary 

hierarchies, or stuff new categories alongside old ones, 

excusing or increasing the various kinds of pain that we 

inflict on one another behind feeble appeals to tradition, 

economic necessity, human nature or "the way of the world.” 

Through the tumult of social and political upheavals 

that has marked the century to date, more and more it’s 

becoming clear that what we need is not a return to normal 

but real change pointing a new way ahead. Old ways of 

thinking are failing to meet the needs of the time while a sea 

of mounting calamities continues to expose the weaknesses 

of these outdated structures. Within this seemingly insurmountable 

list of crises, however, we find an unprecedented 

opportunity to look honestly and clearly at what is not 

working in our society and to begin steps toward something 

not only new, but radically reimagined. 

How Does Radically Reimagining Work? 

Every society is built on a series of structures, interconnected 

and largely interdependent — threads in a great 

and evolving tapestry that together construct the picture 

of that society at a moment in time. Pick the wrong thread, 

or pull too hard, and ostensibly the whole thing unravels. 

But imagine society instead as a great tree, with countless 

leaves and many branches and limbs leading back to a 

single trunk, descending into a network of roots. The constructs 

of society, in their current form, are but the leaves 

and branches of that tree, flourishing in the moment to be 

replaced in time. The limbs are the respective histories of 

each construct, the thoughts, ideas and happenings which 

have shaped them over time into what they currently are. 

The trunk consists of shared premises — the common 

knowledge and collective memory of a society — which 

provide the basic presumptions and fundamental logic by 

which each construct is shaped and applied. And at the very 

bottom, the roots, the underlying assumptions that are the 

basis on which premises are founded. 

Changing a construct might be as simple as replacing 

a leaf. Most often that’s all we set out to do. Sometimes it’s 

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all that’s necessary. Sometimes the problem 

is not with the premises, assumptions or 

history, but with the flawed execution of 

a good idea. Determining that, however, 

requires exploring back along the branches 

of the tree to find the trunk and following it 

down to interrogate the roots. Only then can 

new constructs, if needed, be born of new 

premises based on new — or at least revised 

— assumptions. And yet, the sheer number of 

leaves on the tree of American society, like any 

other, would seem to render such an undertaking 

unfeasible if not wholly impossible. But 

that isn’t necessarily the case. 

Looking at the history of America — 

the assumptions and premises it has both 

utilized and produced — it seems apparent 

that a nation which spent its formative years 

enslaving so much of its population has very 

clear ideas on the relative values of capital 

and human life. Today, we see union disputes 

played out time and again, most recently and 

publicly in the cases of employees in Amazon 

Fulfillment Centers (themselves likened to 

slave plantations) and Hollywood writers and 

actors, together with the sudden and growing 

effort to replace all human work and creativity 

with software-generated materials. Though 

apparently disconnected, these disparities 

all rest on many of the same premises and 

assumptions on the privilege of wealth, the 

value of labor, and who is and is not valuable 

in this country. 

Similarly, were we able, as previously 

mentioned, to remove anti-Black racism from 

American hiring practices, that feat would not 

necessarily, or by itself, correct the problems 

of medical racism, housing discrimination 

food injustice or wage disparity for anyone, 

Black or otherwise. Though separate constructs, 

they are all united by racism as an underlying 

premise. That premise, foundational 

to so much of American society, is in turn 

rooted in the false assumption that race is 

real and that a biological hierarchy between 

races actually exists. Therefore, reimagining 

any of these constructs will require the reevaluation 

and removal of such assumptions 

and premises — an act that would, perforce, 

impact them all. Without this change at the 

presumptive level, however, subsequent 

revisions to any one of these constructs would 

likely present only a variation on a theme. 

Though there are a bewildering number 

of conceptual structures that make up 

American society, the process of radically reimagining 

any one construct involves interrogating 

premises and assumptions that are the 

shared foundation of many, thus removing 

the need to inspect each construct individually 

while amplifying the potential impact of the 

process itself. 

What Is The Process of Radically 

Reimagining? 

Before we can begin the task of stripping, 

interrogating, evaluating and retooling the 

various abstractions that make up society, 

there are a few things we need to have. Firstly, 

expertise and knowledge, which though 

mutually indispensable to the process, are 

not the same things. The expertise needed to 

reimagine a structure is a high-level, functional 

understanding of how that structure 

works within the current paradigm. We also 

need an exhaustive knowledge of the historical 

development of the construct in question, 

from its basic premises to the major epochs, 

thinkers and influences that have shaped its 

development. 

Balancing these analytical attributes, 

reimagining requires honesty and empathy. 

Here honesty connotes a willingness to openly 

view and assess the causes and effects of a 

construct without obfuscation, euphemism, 

equivocation or excuse. Likewise, empathy 

is the recognition that all human suffering is 

equal and none is acceptable, coupled with 

the unwillingness to barter the sufferings of 

one individual or group as payment for the 

comforts of another. 

Discernment is another much-needed 

characteristic. So much of our reality is 

narrative, but often that narrative is rooted in 

the observation of something factual or fundamentally 

true. Yet as we heap interpretations 

onto this objective fact, norms develop, 

becoming assumptions, then premises and 

constructs. Based more on what has become 

comfortable and expected through continued 

iterations of the narrative than on the reality 

from which the narrative began, these constructs 

often falsely portray what is acceptable 

as what is possible. 

To effectively pore through the many 

layers of a societal construct requires the 

ability to recognize the systems of society 

as mutable and imaginary — to distinguish 

the real from the narrative. It is possible, 

for example, for discerning individuals to 

recognize that there are objective physical 

distinctions between males and females of 

our species, yet understand that none of those 

distinctions have any bearing on the intellectual 

or creative capabilities of either. Discernment, 

however, is of little use without perspective. 

All constructs are artificial, as without 

exception they proceed from human thoughts 

and actions. As a result they are all inherently 

un-real. And while that may seem to confer 

a general sense of untruth to such constructs 

collectively, to call them false, fake or irrelevant 

is not only incorrect but contrary to 

human nature. 

As people we need our constructs to 

exist. Language is a construct. It makes communication 

possible. Clothing is a construct. 

It shields our bodies from the elements. Governments, 

currencies, family structures, 

legal systems — all constructs enabling us 

to live and work together. If we didn’t have 

them, we’d have to invent them. What makes 

a specific construct eligible for reimagining 

is when it misconstrues realities — or invents 

false ones — in order to place the burden 

of suffering disproportionately onto one or 

more groups of people by (or in order to) privileging 

others. It takes perspective, therefore, 

to balance the artifice of constructs with their 

utility and ultimate necessity, maintaining 

detachment from the imaginary in order to 

always privilege the real over the constructed. 

Belief is possibly the single most crucial 

attribute to have when reimagining. To even 

attempt to reimagine the way a society works, 

one must first have the conviction that human 

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conceptual structures can be made better; 

that society does not require suffering; and 

that just as they can never purport to preclude 

all suffering, such structures can — as a bare 

minimum — endeavor never to add to or 

ignore what exists. 

Before any of this however, we must 

first be dissatisfied with the status quo as 

it currently exists. This is not simply a resentment 

of social conventions or thirst for 

anarchy, but an acute discontent with the 

suffering caused or abetted by the arbitrary 

contrivances of demonstrably flawed approaches 

to managing a society. 

Finally, to make any effort at reimagining 

more than an intellectual exercise 

requires the resolve, first to go through the 

process with nuance and care, then to develop 

realistic steps for moving from one paradigm 

to another, and finally to pursue them to 

completion. This isn’t the resolve of any one 

person or perhaps even a single generation, 

but a collective impetus towards better 

outcomes born of better ideas. 

How Do We Radically Reimagine? 

Whether we’re looking to reimagine 

labor, democracy, education, economics, 

housing, or health care, we have to have a 

clear and detailed understanding of how a 

thing works right now before we can devise 

something that works better. And we must 

possess an equally clear understanding of 

how that construct came to be. 

It is impossible, for example, to have a 

clear view of the American justice system — 

from sentencing practices to the prison-industrial 

complex — without reference to the 

history of American slavery that formed it. 

Crucial to its current state is the function 

of prisons as modern replacements for the 

defunct plantation system, providing the 

nation with the benefits of the (nearly) free 

labor of Black people. With proven links to 

America’s education and housing systems 

as well, the legal, prison, education and 

housing systems become branches and leaves 

extending from the shared historical limb of 

American slavery. Following the limb of this 

metaphorical tree to its trunk and roots, we 

must analyze the premises and assumptions 

underlying the construct in question and the 

motivations behind them. 

Finally, we must assess the ultimate 

utility and need for the structure in question, 

beyond appeals to tradition or habit. 

Tradition and habit may seem like small 

hurdles to overcome, but in fact their grip can 

be powerful, freezing societies in place simply 

because we have gotten used to doing what we 

think we’ve always done, regardless of how effectively 

or ineffectively we’re doing it. 

JFK once lauded police officers for protecting 

America since the nation’s birth. Yet, 

according to the Smithsonian Institute, the 

nation’s first official police force wasn’t established 

until 1838 in Boston. With precedents in 

the northern Night Watch of the 1600s and the 

southern Slave Patrols of the 1700s, and paralleled 

by gangs of vigilante “Regulators” in 

the west, Boston’s early police force was noted 

for its brutal tactics against European immigrants. 

Yet as the Great Migration brought 

increasing numbers of African Americans 

into the city, their practices came more to 

resemble those of their southern forebears. 

To radically reimagine American 

policing, the construct would have to be reformulated 

without recourse to the racist 

premises on which it is traditionally and 

currently founded and without attachment to 

the levels of impunity with which police habitually 

operate. Rather than reacting to a history 

of harmful practices or, worse yet, seeking 

to expand on them, we would need to relinquish 

both sides of the argument, and begin 

first with the need of people to be protected 

by laws — and those who enforce them — fully 

and equally, unaffected by the imagined strictures 

of wealth, class or race. 

Once these assessments have been 

made, what’s left is to re-envision the 

construct in a new way, from a new set of 

premises and assumptions. Simply put, 

radically reimagining allows us to fundamentally 

rethink our society one aspect at a time 

by reorienting the rationales and purposes 

behind why we do things as we do. 

A Radically Reimagined Path To Change 

The last and most critical step to 

radically reimagining is to plan — to lay out a 

series of practical, accomplishable steps for 

moving from the old paradigm to the new. 

There are no magic wands or words that will 

effortlessly replace one way of doing things 

with another. The transitions from feudalism 

to capitalism and monarchy to democracy 

took time and work. But understanding how 

an idea can effectively shift from one perspective 

to another is the difference between 

radically reimagining societal constructs 

and daydreaming about a better world. Real 

change will require effort on a number of 

levels, from social norms to legislation, while 

replacing old reflexive assumptions with new 

ones. 

Change is the process of society; it is 

constant and inevitable. Whether structures 

are replaced or upheld, they will not and do 

not remain the same. Therefore, Radically Reimagined 

is not about forcing change, rather 

it is an invitation to embrace change consciously, 

with the intention and imperative to 

ensure that whatever change comes is for the 

better. It’s not about pretending to have the 

answers, but about believing that we can find 

or formulate solutions — just as we formulate 

the problems — if we only ask better questions. 

The Radically Reimagined series will 

look at some of the most fundamental structures 

of our society, how they work, why 

we have them, and how they can be remade 

to better meet the needs of all of the lives 

that they touch. In it, we will hold a series of 

conversations with qualified experts on a 

variety of subjects from personal and public 

healthcare to the economy, the internet and 

democracy. We invite you to follow the series 

here in AphroChic magazine and on The 

AphroChic Podcast. AC 

102 aphrochic

THE 

APHRO 

APHRO 

CHIC 

P O D C A S T

Wellness 

Resetting Your 

Way to a 

Better Life 

Justin Shiels is the author of the new self-improvement book, 

The Reset Workbook: A Guide To Finding Your Inner Magic. The 

artist, who is known for his Instagram feed filled with positive 

affirmations, had a desire to create a book that could help himself 

and others design a life that they love. Filled with colorful and 

uplifting illustrations by Shiels, along with questionnaires that 

remind you of the memory books you used to fill out as a kid, 

this is not a workbook at all, but a fun journal that helps you get 

in better touch with yourself and the life you want. 

Interview by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason 

104 aphrochic

We sat down with Shiels to discuss his new book and how you 

know when it’s time for a reset. 

AC: What is a reset and when do you know it’s time for one? 

JS: It’s time for a reset if...you're always tired, you feel out of 

sync, you’re living on autopilot, you feel disconnected, you’re ready 

for change 

AC: Maybe someone doesn’t feel disconnected, but their life 

just feels ok, is a reset necessary? 

JS: Maybe you’re thinking: my life is pretty good. I like this. 

I love that. This is working okay. But I bet your mind also flashed 

over to that one area of your life you don’t let yourself dwell on too 

much. The part that’s slightly out of sync, but that also will take 

some dedicated effort to make a meaningful change. 

Your life doesn’t have to be in shambles to need a reset. In 

fact, regularly checking in with yourself and making sure you’re on 

the right track, or doing a little course correction if necessary, is 

essential for living the life you want. It may seem like an unexamined 

life is easier, but such a life is full of missed opportunities— 

and it’s a lot more boring. 

AC: How does your book help people meet their goals for 

change? 

JS: Between busy work days and demanding social lives, 

many of us don’t make time to check in on our goals. We need an 

easy way to stay accountable. The Reset Workbook is designed 

in a way that invites you to physically interact with your goals by 

writing about them. It offers lots of personal analysis, opportunities 

for brainstorming, and inspirational quotes. The primary 

goal, however, is to build a tactical roadmap to make your dreams a 

reality. You answer questions, brainstorm potential goals, narrow 

them down and set intentions for the next year. 

The Reset Workbook by Justin Shiels. 

Copyright © 2023 by Shiels, Justin. All rights reserved. 

AC: How can people interact with The Reset Workbook to 

create lasting change in their lives? 

JS: This is a living document meant to be examined regularly, 

and altered to fit your ever-changing version of a fulfilling, meaningful 

life.The workbook is separated into specific categories to 

help you navigate the most vital parts of your personal identity. 

You’ll learn more about yourself and have the tools to design a path 

that makes you happier and healthier. 

AC: How can you embrace a reset as a fun exercise? 

JS: Get ready to be pulled and stretched in magical ways. 

Write, color, scribble, but most importantly, enjoy! 

issue fifteen 105

SOUNDS 

BLKBOK 

Where Hip Hop Meets Classical 

Charles Wilson III was four years old when he began playing 

the piano. Growing up in a musically-inclined family in Detroit, 

the boy who would eventually become the virtuoso artist 

known as BLKBOK, was obsessed with the instrument. Though 

small, his little toddler fingers would race up and down the 

keys. Soon, his mother realized that his affinity for the piano 

was something that needed to be nurtured and educated — a 

decision that only deepened his love for it. By the time most 

children his age were beginning to try their hands at writing 

in cursive, BLKBOK had mastered the piano. At eight, the 

child prodigy was winning accolades in state and college-level 

competitions. 


Photos by Spencer Heyfron, Allison Farrand and Matt Doheny 

106 aphrochic

SOUNDS

SOUNDS 

110 aphrochic

Wilson’s relationship with the piano was unique. With 

it, he created a musical language formed from a fusion of 

the classical music he was playing in competition and the 

rap music he would listen to after school. Throughout his 

teenage years, his sound was equally guided by the work of 

icons such as Debussy and Busta Rhymes. The combination 

led him to develop original compositions that blended 

classical, Hip Hop, R&B and jazz. 

By 2020, Wilson had a well-established career in 

the music industry, traveling the world as lead pianist 

and musical director for artists like Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, 

and Demi Lovato. After touring with the show, 

Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque Du Soleil, the artist was 

forced to take a break and rediscover himself. As was true 

for so many of us, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic 

coupled almost simultaneously with the explosion of the 

Black Lives Matter movement, signaled a transition for 

Wilson. As tours ended and lockdown began, the musical 

director returned to his own work. Taking on the name, 

BLKBOK — a nod to his cultural heritage and one of his 

favorite piano players, Johann Sebastian Bach — the 

man who loved piano as a boy, who spent his high school 

years fusing French impressionism and Flipmode, began 

working on his first solo album. 

The album Black Book was groundbreaking — a 

classical album with a Hip Hop vibe, all written from a 

21st century Black male experience. It broke through the 

boundaries imposed by the music industry, showcasing 

for the first time BLKBOK’s distinct language, with compositions 

titled, George Floyd and the Struggle for Equality 

and Michelle’s First Day at the White House, coupled 

with spoken word by Jamaican poet, Lauren Delapenha. 

A mixtape soon followed, CVRART, described as “a 

neo-classical, Hip Hop-inspired expression of some of 

the most recent viral hits.” The mixtape featured covers of 

popular songs like Best Friend by Saweetie and Leave The 

Door Open by Bruno Mars. 

While dropping covers of viral hits, BLKBOK began 

to go viral himself, his virtuoso piano work drawing 

attention on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram. 

Producing remixed reels with other classically trained 

Black musicians, the videos were and continue to be a 

breath of fresh air. You can watch BLKBOK playing with 

other Black musicians in a way that is innovative, experimental 

and free from the heavily manufactured sounds 

imposed by today’s music industry. And through these 

collaborative videos you get to see that there are a host of 

other Black musicians present in the classical world. 

Last fall, BLKBOK dropped his sophomore album 

9, an ambitious work honoring the Little Rock Nine. The 

album is a mix of instrumental storytelling and spoken 

word that aims to bring attention to a variety of social 

topics including the need for togetherness over division, 

and pathways to healing and self-love. The album was 

released on September 25, 2023, the 66th anniversary of 

the first full day of school for the Little Rock Nine. And in 

writing it, BLKBOK traveled to Little Rock to interview 

Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Nine, to hear her story 

firsthand and glean from it ways to bring positive change 

to our society today. 

In just four short years, BLKBOK has two albums 

and several mixtapes under his belt. With each new work, 

Wilson is pushing himself to find meaning in the music 

while offering us compositions that serve as prompts to 

wider discussions on social justice, community building, 

the civil rights struggles of the past and the work we 

need to do today to build a better future. His new single 

Shadows & Light, which dropped early in 2024, is one 

such example. Wilson describes the song as a “message to 

everyone who's ever had to cope with hatred, racism, or 

bigotry from someone else. It's a story written for those 

that are brave and have the awareness and fortitude to 

not react impulsively. To those who know and understand 

that the problem isn't you, it's them.” 

Like a rapper with a mic, BLKBOK uses the piano 

to tell stories of Black life in America. With each key, he 

is creating socially conscious music with the hope of 

drawing our attention to where it’s most useful and the 

purpose of inspiring the change we so desperately need. 

Like Wilson says himself, “Imagine me as a rapper, except 

I spit lyrics and tell my stories through my hands, with 

these notes.” AC 

issue fifteen 111

PINPOINT 

Artists & Artisans | Civics | Who Are You

ARTISTS & ARTISANS 

Carla Williams Debuts Her First Monograph, Tender 

In September 2023, photographic historian Carla Williams released 

her debut monograph, Tender. The book contains over 80 images shot 

by Williams between 1984 and 1999. The images are from a private 

archive of personal self-portraits that Williams took during the 

15-year period, exploring her own possibilities as a young, queer, 

Black woman taking control of her image as both subject and creator. 

Flipping through the pages of Tender, you’ll 

see portraits of Williams during her time as a 

student at Princeton — contact prints of her nude 

torso; untitled images of her boldly staring into the 

camera; a cheeky close-up of her buttocks made 

during her time in Albuquerque while getting 

her MFA; a playful print of the the artist against 

a floral background with one eye winking at the 

camera. The images are fun, witty, uncensored, 

empowered, authentically human, and familiar all 

at once. They are a young woman’s documentary 

of herself as she comes of age, concerned about 

no gaze but her own, experimental and free in her 

creation. 

For more than 30 years the archive had 

been stored away, containing images Williams 

made in instant Polaroid 35mm and 4x5 type 55 

film formats. The pictures were more confessions 

than studies, the camera a confidante to 

the young photographer. “[It] is as though I can 

tell it everything,” she attests in a writing found 

among the photos, “all of my secrets, and it listens, 

intently, carefully and repeats it aloud, and I hear 

it repeated and although it sounds nothing like my 

original words, I recognize these words … and the 

camera is right.” Finding both reflection and echo 

in the camera’s report of her, Carla found opportunities 

to view herself from new angles, benefitting 

from the freedom of a conversation which 

allowed her to play both parts, with the camera 

as an honest yet impartial observer. “There is the 

image you present to the camera,” she reflects, 

“but it is never the one the camera records. The 

relationship is rather like telling one's deepest 

secrets to a friend.” 

Ironically, in the way that so many monumental 

discoveries begin from mundane 

concerns, it was the purchase of a cabinet on eBay 

that led to the photographer’s excavation of the 

images. Williams, who had successfully received 

her BA in photography from Princeton University 

and her MA and MFA from the University of New 

Mexico, came upon a postal sorting cabinet she 

felt compelled to fill with snapshots and family 

photos. After filling only a quarter of the cabinet 

she was in need of more images and landed upon 

the self-portraits she had taken while in school. As 

Williams reports, “When I began to sort through 

the stack a funny thing happened — I rediscovered 

how much I loved these photos, and I loved this 


Images from Tender, Published and Worldwide copyright TBW Books, 2023 

114 aphrochic


fearless young woman who was making them.” 

Though photography had been a passion of that young 

woman, she had never considered herself an artist and 

had harbored no plans to show the work. “When I finished 

grad school […] I promptly announced my retirement,” she 

remembers. Though Williams would spend decades after 

school working independently as a photography historian, 

writer, and editor, she was quickly, “disillusioned with 

the financial impracticality of trying to pursue an artistic 

career.” Ultimately her discomfiture was rooted in more than 

questions of personal sustainability. “I didn't believe that art 

should be bought and sold,” she states. “I thought art is the 

embodiment of ideas and ideas should be shared freely.” But 

when the pandemic hit, Williams started scanning the works 

and even began sharing some of them on Instagram. On 

social media, the images caught the attention of TBW Books, 

the independent photography book publishing company that 

released Tender this past fall. 

Printed in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, the books are 

all signed and numbered by Williams herself. Each includes a 

4 x 6 inch chromogenic print — a work of art in itself. Despite 

her early qualms about a creative career, this unexpected 

moment of rediscovery has secured Williams’ legacy as an 

artist. Soon after its release, the photographer held her first 

solo exhibition, Carla Williams: Circa 1985, at Higher Pictures 

in Brooklyn, N.Y. The exhibition was a restaging of Williams’ 

Princeton University Bachelor of Arts thesis exhibition from 

1986. The images presented were raw, urgent, and necessary, 

in an exhibition that Higher Pictures described as “a Black 

woman processing a canonical history.” 

Today, Williams’ work is part of the vast continuum of 

Black portraiture, and an important signpost in the history 

of Black female photography in particular. Current works by 

contemporary artists such as Zanele Muholi, Delphine Diallo, 

Fares Micue, and Takara Portis’ sit in conversation with 

Williams’ decades-old photographs, presenting Black women 

in ownership of their own forms and gazes, along with an 

equally self-possessed approach to photographing the Black 

female body. 

For Williams, these works are not only a look back at 

a young woman coming into her own; but a look forward, 

coming to see her work as an important historical contribution 

to the cannon of the Black female body in art and photography. 

“I recognize in these photographs an exploration 

of one's physicality, beauty, sexuality, power, and pleasure 

through humor, seduction, and performance. As much as my 

older, wiser self would like to claim otherwise, what I know is 

that there was nothing deliberate or political in their creation 

— that came later — I was a young Black woman exploring the 

way I looked before the camera. Their directness and honesty 

and playfulness were only possible for me before I knew the 

degree to which any of it ‘mattered.’” AC 

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118 aphrochic

issue fifteen 119

CIVICS 

Seeing Genocide: A People’s Guide 

to Recognizing and Ending It 

It would be hard to think of a nation that exists today that does not have 

the horrible crime of genocide hidden within its foundation. The mass 

extermination of human life for gains in land, oil, minerals, resources 

and supremacy is sadly not new, but instead, an all too familiar tactic 

employed by governments, corporations, empires, regimes, those in 

want of power, and those who kill to maintain it. 

While many of us may know that genocide has 

been used as a tool in the past, it’s not something 

we often think about in our present. In fact, many 

may think of one of the world’s most atrocious 

human rights violations as something from a 

bygone era, no longer existing in our modern 

world. But late last year, as conflict broke out in 

Gaza, the entire world received a brutal reality 

check. Not only was genocide not bygone, but as 

we watched it occur in real time on our Instagram 

and TikTok feeds, we learned that genocide 

impacts us all. 

As calls for “#ceasefirenow” began to grow 

on social media in reaction to what was happening 

in Gaza, something else happened. Just like 

with #BLM in 2020, the ceasefire hashtag went 

viral and suddenly our feeds were not only filled 

with images and videos of genocide unfolding in 

Palestine, but in other parts of the world as well. 

Artists, designers, food influencers and so many 

more, called on everyone to look at the long-time 

ethnic cleansing campaigns taking place in 

Congo and Sudan, killing thousands and displacing 

millions on an unthinkable scale. Like in 2020, 

through the power of social media, those calls 

were quickly amplified and suddenly millions 

around the world were engaged in a global effort 

to end genocide. 

We are entering a new era where global 

conflicts and crimes are no longer filtered 

through government press conferences, reported 

through state-sanctioned talking points, and fed 

to citizens in small digestible bites. As more and 

more people have a desire to become engaged in 

ending global atrocities like genocide, it’s more 

important than ever for individuals to have a clear 

picture of what the the crime of genocide is, where 

it’s taking place, and how each of us has a role in 

stopping it. 

What Is Genocide? 

On October 24, 1945, following the end of 

World War II, The United Nations (UN) was established. 

The intergovernmental body was defined 

as having the purpose of maintaining international 

peace and security, developing friendly 

relations among nations, achieving international 

cooperation, and serving as a center for harmonizing 

the actions of nations. On December 9, 1948 

the first human rights treaty to be adopted by the 


Photos by Timothy Barlin, Isaiah McCarty, Samia D., Simeon Asenov, and Amjd Rdwan 

120 aphrochic

CIVICS 

General Assembly of the UN was adopted 

- The Convention on the Prevention and 

Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 

(Genocide Convention). As of January 2019, 

150 nation-states have ratified or acceded 

the treaty, which states in Article II: 

Genocide means any of the following 

acts committed with intent to destroy, in 

whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial 

or religious group, as such: 

(a) Killing members of the group; 

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental 

harm to members of the group; 

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the 

group conditions of life calculated to bring 

about its physical destruction in whole or in 

part; 

(d) Imposing measures intended to 

prevent births within the group; 

(e) Forcibly transferring children of 

the group to another group. 

States’ Obligations Under the Genocide 

Convention: 

1. Obligation not to commit genocide; 

2. Obligation to prevent genocide, 

which, according to the ICJ, has an extraterritorial 

scope; 

3. Obligation to punish genocide; 

4. Obligation to enact the necessary legislation 

to give effect to the provisions of the 

Convention; 

5. Obligation to ensure that effective 

penalties are provided for persons found 

guilty of criminal conduct according to the 

Convention; 

6. Obligation to try persons charged 

with genocide in a competent tribunal of the 

State in the territory of which the act was 

committed, or by an international penal 

tribunal with accepted jurisdiction; 

7. Obligation to grant extradition when 

genocide charges are involved, in accordance 

with laws and treaties in force, particularly 

related to protection granted by international 

human rights law prohibiting refoulment 

where there is a real risk of flagrant human 

rights violations in the receiving State. 

Since its adoption by the global 

community seventy-six years ago, the 

Genocide Convention’s definition of 

the crime of genocide has been recognized 

as customary international law. The 

1998 Rome Statute of the International 

Criminal Court (ICC) has recognized the 

definition and established genocide as one 

of the international crimes that the ICC 

has jurisdiction over. And the International 

Court of Justice (ICJ) not only recognizes 

the prevention of genocide as customary 

international law, but has established a 

duty for nations-states to not only prevent 

genocide within their borders, but should 

they have the ability to influence others, 

a duty to employ all means reasonably 

available to them to prevent genocide that 

takes place outside of their borders. 

Where Is Genocide Occurring? 

Genocide takes place globally. 

Currently, there are three places in the 

world that are being highly discussed on 

social media as individuals and organizations 

bring more attention to the crime: 

Congo 

In his recent book, Cobalt Red: How 

The Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives, 

Siddharth Kara, traces the supply chain of 

child-mined cobalt from toxic pits in the 

Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo) to 

Big Tech. The book sheds light on the fact 

that seventy-five percent of the world’s 

cobalt is mined in the Congo. The material 

is essential for making the lithium-ion rechargeable 

batteries that power the technology 

that powers our lives - smartphones, 

tablets, laptops and electric 

vehicles. And greed for the material, led 

by company’s like Apple and Tesla, have 

turned the Congo’s otherwise fertile agricultural 

land, that the UN World Food 

Program reported has the potential to feed 

one-quarter of the world’s population, 

into a red clay wasteland. 

Today, hundreds of thousands of 

Congolese citizens are forced to work 

the mines and are enslaved in their own 

country. In mines which are primarily 

owned by China, Congolese citizens 

receive just dollars a day as they dig in 

the earth for cobalt. Some of the mines 

are so large that they have reached the 

size of cities like London. Daily, citizens 

are exposed to deadly toxins and radioactive 

material, and many die from chronic 

health issues, or from the mines crashing 

in around them. 

Clashes over territory and a fight 

for the nation’s natural resources have 

resulted in a deadly conflict with ethnic 

cleansing occurring between Hutus 

and Tutsis, the same groups that had 

committed massive ethnic cleansing in 

neighboring Rwanda in the 90s. According 

to the International Rescue Committee, 

from 1998-2007, an estimated 5.4 million 

people died in the country as a result of 

war and genocide. And today, hundreds of 

citizens have been victims of genocide in 

the past year, with the number of people 

internally displaced reaching 6.9 million. 

As the United States and other 

nations promise greener technology 

to their citizens in the form of electric 

vehicles and enhanced tech products 

powered by lithium-ion batteries, little 

intervention has occurred to prevent the 

violence, as developed nation’s interests 

are focused on cobalt, and not the humans 

attached to it. 

Palestine 

In 1999, the UN and International 

Committee of the Red Cross, regarded as 

guardians of humanitarian law, published 

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CIVICS 

a report determining that Israel is an “occupying power” 

violating the rights of Palestinian citizens. In 2007, Israel 

instituted a blockade, designating the Gaza Strip as a hostile 

entity, and instituting sanctions which included power reductions, 

strict import restrictions, and border closures. 

In 2022, Human Rights Watch reported that “Israeli authorities 

continue to control Gaza’s territorial waters and 

airspace, and the movement of people and goods, except at 

Gaza’s border with Egypt. Israel also controls the Palestinian 

population registry and the infrastructure upon which 

Gaza relies.” That same year, Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestinian 

Director at Human Rights Watch reported, “Israel, 

with Egypt’s help, has turned Gaza into an open-air prison” 

referring to the state of Israel’s apartheid policies, restricting 

the right of movement, work, and education for Gaza’s 

2 million residents. 

On October 7, 2023, Hamas, the Islamic Resistance 

Movement, launched an attack against Israeli citizens. 

In retaliation, Israel launched a full-scale war not only 

on Hamas, but on Palestinian citizens. The World Health 

Organization, reported that in just four months, 100,000 

people in Gaza “are either dead, injured or missing and 

presumed dead” as a result of bombing raids and ground 

assaults led by Israeli soldiers. It’s estimated that more 

than 8,000 children have been killed, and that some 2 

million Palestinians have been displaced. 

Video coming out of the country shows the Israeli 

government attacking hospitals and refugee camps, 

violating international law. And images show that the 

cities of Gaza and Rafha have been transformed into 

post-apocalyptic sites, where the homes and buildings 

of Palestinians have been razed to the ground through 

controlled bombings conducted by the Israeli army. 

Doctors Without Borders and World Central Kitchen 

have documented blockades by the Israeli army that do 

not allow for basic humanitarian aid during the conflict, 

including food and medical treatment. 

In light of the grave human rights violations taking 

place, South Africa filed a case in the ICJ, charging the 

state of Israel with genocide, stating that the Israeli government 

has caused serious mental and bodily harm to 

Palestinians, and has deliberately inflicted conditions 

meant to “bring about their physical destruction as a 

group.” An interim ruling by the ICJ in January did not 

go as far as ordering a ceasefire in Gaza, but told Israel to 

take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement 

of genocide, and ordered Israel to allow humanitarian 

aid into Gaza. 

Sudan 

“Sudan is facing the world’s biggest humanitarian 

crisis, with the largest displaced population on earth,” 

reports Yousra Elbagir, African correspondent for Sky 

News. According to Reuters, over the past two decades 

the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary organization 

dominated by Sudanese Arabs, has been involved in 

multiple rounds of ethnic cleansing against the Masalit 

community and others considered “black Africans”. 

In 2019, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the 

RSF toppled the al-Bashir dictatorship in a military coupe. 

In 2021, the forces removed the civilian prime minister 

and cabinet suspending the nation’s constitution. With 

influence by nations including the United States and 

Saudi Arabia, in 2022 the SAF, RSF and political leaders 

agreed to move to a democracy, and the country was on 

the path to holding its first elections. However, the US, 

Saudis and the UAE, did not act as promised in working 

with Sudan on negations, and in 2023, negations on how 

to integrate the military forces and move to democracy 

broke down. Following the breakdown of negotiations, 

in April 2023, the RSF, supported with weaponry from 

the UAE, began taking over key parts of the country and 

started an ethnic cleansing. 

In December 2023, Reuters reported, “In attacks 

by RSF forces and allied Arab militias, survivors 

said, women were gang raped, babies had their throats 

slit and were clubbed to death, people were rammed 

by vehicles, burned alive in their homes and picked off 

in the streets by snipers.” Since April 2023, the unfathomable 

scale and scope of violence in one of the world’s 

most oil rich nations has resulted in over 7.7 million 

people being forced out of their homes, 1.7 million people 

124 aphrochic

eing forced to leave the country, and more than 13,000 

deaths and thousands more injuries. 

Currently, Elbagir reports, “Reports indicate that 

the Sudanese Armed Forces are largely being supported 

by Iran, Egypt and Ukraine. And that the RSF, the second-largest 

armed faction in the country, is currently 

being backed by the UAE by neighboring Chad, Eastern 

Libya and Russian mercenaries, Wagner.” As nations 

pick sides, the civilian tragedy and threat to Sudan’s 

black African community continues to grow. 

How Can Individuals Help To End Genocide? 

Genocide is one of the world’s most egregious 

crimes, and its proliferation impacts us all. There are 

things that individuals can do to combat genocide: 

1. Acknowledge that a violation of the Genocide 

Convention has occurred. Currently, it’s critical that 

where we see violations of the Genocide Convention 

happening, that these violations be exposed. The 

case brought by South Africa against Israel is one such 

example of acknowledging that a violation has occurred, 

documenting the atrocities, and bringing them to the 

attention of a world court to seek a ceasefire and punishment 

of bad actors. 

2. Hold nations accountable. The Genocide Convention 

is an important tool that can be utilized to hold 

nations accountable. If your country is violating, or 

aiding in the violation of the Convention it’s important 

to look for ways to hold your nation to account. That can 

happen by bringing attention to your country’s complicity, 

engaging citizens in making calls to elected officials, 

and putting pressure on the administration in power. 

Recently, Faith For Black Lives held a pilgrimage for 

peace. Over eight days, 250 faith leaders, activists and 

artists made the journey from Philadelphia to Washington 

DC, publicly calling out President Biden and 

Congress, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. 

3. Express yourself. Nine-year-old journalist Lama 

Jamous is showing the world her experience as a refugee 

escaping violence in Palestine. Using her Instagram 

platform @lama_jamous9, Lama shows us what life is 

currently like for Palestinians who have been forcibly 

removed from their homes and subject to airstrikes. In a 

recent post Lama wrote, “a few days ago it was my ninth 

birthday, but the conditions of the war prevented my 

family from celebrating it, but my wish on this day is to 

be a journalist who transmits the suffering of my people 

and my family and exposes the massacres that take place 

on the children of Palestine.” Lama is a brave example 

of how you can use self-expression, whether making 

videos, signs, art, or poetry, to show the world what is 

truly happening. 

4. Give your support. Aid is desperately needed in 

all of the nations around the globe that are reckoning 

with genocide. Organizations on the ground need help 

to meet the extraordinary need and to push for world 

governments to stop genocidal acts. A few organizations 

that need your urgent support include: 

Doctors Without Borders provides emergency aid 

and medical care to people around the world who have 

been impacted by war, disease and disasters. They are 

currently calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end 

to attacks on hospitals and civilians in Palestine. Learn 

more at doctorswithoutborders.org. 

Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people 

in 100 countries around the world, spotlighting abuse 

and bring perpetrators to justice. Their Instagram feed 

is an important resource for staying up-to-date on humanitarian 

conflicts and provides information on how 

you can help. Learn more at hrw.org. 

United Nations World Food Program delivers 15 

billion life-saving meals a year, fighting hunger in more 

than 120 countries. They are working in nations impacted 

by war and genocide, providing meals to populations 

desperate for food and aid. Learn more at wfp.org. 

World Central Kitchen is working with chefs in crisis-ridden 

areas around the world. Working with efforts 

like #chefsforgaza, World Central Kitchen is addressing 

the critical need for food, as citizens face starvation. 

They recently participated in an airdrop of 500 pallets of 

humanitarian aid into Northern Gaza. Learn more at wck. 

org. AC 

issue fifteen 125

WHO ARE YOU 

Name: Buffie Longmire-Avital, PhD (aka, Dr. LA to my 

students) 

Based In: Greensboro, NC 

Occupation: Professor of Psychology, Director of the Black 

Lumen Project, and Faculty Administrative Fellow for 

Mentoring at Elon University 

Black Culture Is: A rich ancestral lineage that is shaped 

by shoulders, arms, legs and perhaps most importantly 

the unquestionable, conscious, and subconscious WILL 

to not just lift or hold ourselves and others up, but to 

move forward collectively. Black culture is forged from 

the legacy of carriers that endured the middle passage, 

never-ending days of enslavement, the ongoing fights 

for justice and equity, the expectations, and sometimes 

isolating dangers of what it means to be the first and/or 

only in a space. The historical carriage that is Black culture 

is composed of carriers both seen and unseen that have 

not only helped us get here, but they will also help us get 

to wherever is next. We are a people who carry. We carry 

through action, creative expression, and scholarly pursuits. 

We carry because, as Lena Horne promised, “It is not the load that breaks you down, it is the way you carry it.” We 

carry collectively with and for each other because we understand that our true strength is not rooted in a mythical 

magic source but in shared wisdom and acceptance that together we must push through systems of oppression and 

intentionally secure our joy. We carry because it is still a radical concept for many of us to rest. To me, Black culture 

reflects the fact that we carry because we know there are more of us who have yet to come through, up, and over. But 

they will. 

126 aphrochic

THE KINTSUGI 

MIRROR 

PERIGOLD.COM

AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 15

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