On a nondescript stretch of Broadway in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, stands a print shop empty of customers or seemingly anything to sell. It is a miracle establishment, not unlike the neighborhood it sits in. You wonder how it has survived Amazon and gentrification, and you wonder for how much longer.

One of the more interesting functions that my family house has served over the years has been that of a refuge for members of my family as they made the transition from one stage of life to another. My Uncle Allen — my grandmother’s brother — lived there for several months after leaving the Air Force. My uncle Rodney did, too, having served in the Air Force as well. Other family members came and went for a multitude of reasons. More than once the change in circumstances came after a fire had claimed another home. For me, the house was my first home. I lived there for a year before my parents moved first into an apartment, then into the house that I grew up in.

The world of Pan-Africanism in the 1960s was very different from the one into which the Trinidadian lawyer Henry Sylvester Williams first introduced the term in 1900. Not only had 60 years passed, but with them two World Wars that had depleted the empires of Europe, loosening the stranglehold they once held on much of the rest of the world. But the impact of time wasn’t felt by Europe alone. Pan-Africanism had made its share of strides in that time as well.

Photographer Michelle Norris is one half of the creative team behind Tropico Photo. Norris runs the Atlanta-based photography company that with her husband and business partner, Forrest Aguar. Their 800-square-foot, one bedroom condo is proof that a small space can hold even the biggest design ideas. 

Her voice is full of life — vibrant and soulful with an unflinching clarity. Its sound is a declaration of identity, a definitive statement of existence, and an unapologetic claiming of place in both history and the present day. In her Grammy-nominated solo debut, Fanm d’Ayiti, Nathalie Joachim’s crisp vocals pair beautifully with her stunning arrangements of flutes, strings, and electronics to seamlessly blend the weight of history with a rising sense of wonder and joy. In every song we hear not only Joachim herself, but the voices of the brave women of Haiti — the ancestors for whom she sings. Recasting songs with centuries of history in modern arrangements, the album recalls the struggles and resilience of the past as a means of gathering the strength to meet the challenges of the present. We spoke with Joachim about what drove her to create this seminal work.

There is a story in the work. For ceramicist, Andile Dyalvane, his work is the story of growing up in South Africa, his connection to the legacy of his Xhosa ancestors, and the indelible imprints of the places he has been. His pieces are more than a meeting of hands and clay. They are a form of self-expression - a record of who Dyalvane is and who he is constantly becoming.

A lot had changed for my family and for the house by the middle of the 1970s, specifically with regard to who was calling it home at that time. Aunts and uncles alike had married and moved away. And in spring of 1972, Mama passed away. When that happened, the house wasn’t sold, but instead was passed down to my grandmother, Alice Harper, beginning a line of inheritance that continues to this day.

From it’s beginnings in London at the turn of the 20th century, through the first World War and the start of the New Negro Movement, Pan-Africanism became the primary descriptor under which a host of movements, philosophies and organizations were grouped and understood. By the second decade of the century, New York stood out as a beacon of Black life and a center for the emerging themes of Black culture.

Growing up in North Carolina, Ron Frazier has always been familiar with the outdoors. “My family and friends played outdoors all the time. We grew up on a lake and my dad was an avid fisherman and boater.” Going out in the water and playing in the nearby woods was just part of growing up for Frazier, so much so, that as an adult, his outdoor adventures turned from daylong swims to two-week excursions into some of the most remote parts of the country. From visiting the deepest parts of The Grand Canyon to the outdoor Shangri-La of Moab in Utah, the great outdoors calls to Frazier. In answering it, the childhood pastime turned part-time hobby has now developed into a brand - A Tribe Called Camp (ATCC).

On a beautiful day, with a hint of spring in the air, a group of New York City creatives gathered at the historic Bedford Playhouse in Westchester County, NY. The goal of the gathering was simple - to celebrate artistry, the creative spirit, and community. The Bedford Playhouse was the perfect backdrop for the afternoon. Once a struggling movie theater, it was saved by a community of entertainment industry artists, many with New York City roots.

Seleen Saleh was just a teenager the first time she picked up a camera, and she hasn’t put it down since. “I used my first camera at 16 years old. I really loved photographs, especially black-and-whites. I wanted to see how far I could take it.” She’s taken it far, and it’s returned the favor. Seleen’s camera has taken her around the world, leading the way as she captures the spirit of fashion on the streets of New York, Paris, London and Milan.

New York interior designer Leyden Lewis is both the name and creative drive behind the Leyden Lewis Design Studio. For the last sixteen years Leyden has made his home in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, in a beautifully appointed apartment that he shares with his partner, Lazhar and their dog, Nika. For many, creating the feel of a whole home in the 800 square foot, open-plan space would pose a daunting challenge. But for Leyden the challenge has been a nearly two-decade-long opportunity to test his abilities and try out new ideas.  

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.”

Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason of AphroChic sit down with Jerome LaMaar, fashion designer, trend forecaster and futurist, to discuss fashion and futurism. It's a discussion that leads us from his start as a 15-year-old designer for Baby Phat and into Afro-futurism and his groundbreaking showcase, Afri-Collision.  

At the beginning of 1956, the Belfield area of Philadelphia was a predominantly white part of the city. With few exceptions, just about all of the African Americans to be found there were domestic workers, coming in and out of houses as they finished their work as maids. But in October of that year, a new family arrived. Made up of three generations — a grandmother, her four children, and two grandchildren — they were only the second Black family to move onto the block.