LIFESTYLE
Lifestyle & Culture From Across The African Diaspora
Perfect Holiday: A Sweet Celebration In Brooklyn
Christmas is one of our favorite holidays. Every year the season brings up memories of growing up in Philadelphia. As kids we couldn’t wait to get to the Wannemaker Building to see the Christmas Light Show and tour the world of Ebenezer Scrooge in the animatronic Dickens Village. We’d walk beneath the dazzling ornaments hung in Rittenhouse Square before going home to sit with moms and grandmoms to be reminded of the parts of the holiday that aren’t about trees and toys. There was more family, food and fun than at any other part of the year. And - at least for a while - we didn’t have to go to school. It was a magical time, and each year we try to share the same warm feelings we remember with our New York family, transforming our home into a winter wonderland just in time for our big party.
Fabiola Jean-Louis: History Rewritten And Remembered
A rustle of fabric, a pop of color and the unflinching gaze of dark eyes. With these, fine art photographer Fabiola Jean-Louis weaves a narrative that blends past and future, fact and fantasy, afro-futurism and Black girl magic. In the process, blending photography and sculpture, she warps time and space, giving us a glimpse of what might have been while casting light on a history that many have forgotten or ignored.
Pan-Africanism And The Roots Of The African Diaspora
In the first installment of this series, we explored questions pertaining to the nature of the African Diaspora. The concept as we currently understand it emerges from the much longer history of Pan-Africanism - a massive body of individuals, organizations, movements, thinkers, creatives and artists that worked on all levels across many nations to improve the lives and lots of Black people around the world.
It’s A Family Affair Part 2: Inspired By The Past
By the 1960s, the home my mother lived in was full. The house roster included my mom, Jacqueline, my grandmother Syjunia, and my great-grandmother, Mama, as well as my great-aunts, Debbie and Elaine, great-uncle, Allen, and cousin Gordon (who the family affectionately referred to as “Snuffy”). Like for so many other Black families, “the house” was the official hub of my family’s life. It was the setting for countless family events from Sunday dinners to proms, holiday gatherings and late-night penuchle games. “Our house was the center,” my mom confirms. “We were there for every holiday. Everybody would come [for] Mother’s Day, Easter, Christmas, it was always at the house.”
Rapsody’s Eve: Respect Given, Respect Earned
Maya Angelou once said, “I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody. And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.” On her third album, Eve, Rapsody pays respect to Black women while demanding her own.
Beautiful Embrace: Inside The LA Home Of Model And Activist Nikia Phoenix
Nikia Phoenix loves the skin she’s in, and she wants you to love yours just as much. Once the awkward girl with freckles, the model now known for her gorgeous skin knows that the road to feeling at home with yourself is neither short nor straight. Yet she’d be the first to suggest that it’s the one best travelled, and that the best thing about traveling it is that there’s no need to do it alone. That was the driving sentiment behind Black Girl Beautiful, the 23andMe star’s self-and-communal love brand aimed at Black women everywhere and of all ages.
Heart & Soul: Jocelyn Delk Adams’ Recipes Are A Family Affair
Family is at the heart of the story. For Jocelyn Delk Adams, founder of Grandbaby Cakes, family is where everything begins. The food blogger, turned cookbook author, turned television personality, was once just a little girl absorbing all of the knowledge and love there was to be found in a family kitchen. From the beginning, Jocelyn’s baking, with it’s focus on sweet treats and fond memories, has centered on the influence of a central character: her grandmother, “Big Mama.”