LIFESTYLE
Lifestyle & Culture From Across The African Diaspora
Public Policy Must Meet The Needs Of The People
“Strategy. Action. Walk into who you claim to be and lead.” Jill Scott’s reading of her poem, Agitation Definition #3 at the nationally televised, Juneteenth: A Global Celebration, was an urgent call to action. A rebuke of America’s so-called leaders — political and cultural — who seem to be failing us at every turn. She was demanding that those in a position to lead, do so. The fiery poem, ending with Scott’s defiant scream, “LEAD!”, evoked remembrances of Fannie Lou Hamer’s emphatic rallying cry, “We are sick and tired of being sick and tired!” Half a desperate plea and half a revolutionary command, the moment captured perfectly the emotions of a nation that genuinely wants to be better than it is, yet feels itself edging ever closer to something terrible.
Soul Man: New Orleans-Born Artist Greg Banks Is The Saint Of Soul Music
Have you ever had one of those days? A terrible day, right in the middle of everything being bad, when you can’t remember how good it used to be and can’t imagine it ever being that good again? And then something happens, someone happens, they do or say something that cuts through all the bad, and they didn’t even know what they’d done? With music and song, Greg Banks has been that person to break through on more than one occasion. We know, because he did it for us.
Sindiso Khumalo: Out Of The Ashes
Storytelling is an important part of African culture. All throughout the continent, there are griots - repositories of oral traditions who keep history and culture alive through poems, music, songs, tales, and clothes. For fashion designer Sindiso Khumalo, her newest collection is a moment of storytelling worthy of the tradition.
Gee’s Bend Quilts: African American Works Of Early Modern Art
One of the potential hazards of loving art is the tendency to see it as something separate from everyday life — a thing apart, with no ability to function practically beyond what it stirs in us emotionally or intellectually. Sometimes that can be true, but often our most inspired works are the ones inspired by a practical need, like the patterned rugs of the Middle East and Central Asia. Similarly, the African American quilts of Gee’s Bend, hailed as pivotal works of modern art in museum exhibitions around the country, were inspired by the simple need to stay warm.
Malcolm Simmons: A Designer’s Stylish Abode
Malcolm Simmons has been designing all of his life. A native of Virginia who spent years living abroad before studying graphic and interior design, he’s now known as the owner of the design consultation company, Mas Means More. For the last two years, the self-styled “environmental graphic designer,” has made his home in a 2-story colonial-style condo in Arlington, Virginia.
Heavenly Gaines’ Modern Brooklyn Apartment
New York City is full of hidden gems, places that seem ordinary enough on the outside, but inside they are marvels of design creativity. Interior designer Heavenly Gaines has created one such oasis. Her apartment in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn is a beautiful mix of colors, textures and eras.
Joy Williams Designs A Stunning Vacation Retreat
With a burgeoning business in interior design and an equally energetic practice of buying and developing real estate, Joy Williams, the designer and chief creative behind Joyful Designs Studio has designed the ultimate getaway. She and her partner own a fully renovated getaway in the city of Augusta - in a 1920s-era building converted into 3 apartments, including her own 600 square foot pied-e-terre.
Alkebulan: Chef Alexander Smalls Curates A Taste Of Africa’s Cultural Revolution For The World
Food does so much more than just nourish our bodies. It brings is together. Not just as families, but as people. We all need it, so we all have it. And because we’re all different, there are countless ways to prepare it, serve it and take it in. Each one is attached to a culture - to a particular way of being human. Like cultures, food overlaps, weaving a fantastic tapestry of influences that shows where we are, where we’ve come from and who we’ve met along the way. If you listen, food will tell you a story. Few people know that as well as Chef Alexander Smalls.
Chanae Richards: A Country-Style Retreat In Philadelphia
Interior and production designer Chanae Richards is the founder and principal creative behind Oloro Interiors. The firm provides locations and design services for a variety of photo and video projects in addition to Chanae’s residential design work.
Stephanie Watkins: A Colorful Maryland Paradise
Stephanie Watkins has a full plate. For most of every day, she’s a nursing professor at a Maryland university, with 15 years of experience in her field. The rest of the time, she’s a full-on creative, the mind behind Casa Watkins, a lifestyle, interiors and content creation site that serves as an outlet for all of her many creative endeavors. Her other major outlet for the past 11 years, has been her home - a gorgeous, 3100 square foot single family home in Aberdeen, Maryland.
Marie Cox: A Modern Ranch House In Raleigh
As anyone who’s ever been there will tell you, North Carolina is a beautiful place. Rolling hills, fantastic beaches, and a sky that seems to go on forever are just the start of its charms. It’s also one of the nation’s largest banking hubs. That makes it a natural place to find someone like Marie Cox. An accomplished executive and one of the few female Vice Presidents in banking, her Raleigh home is the perfect blend of comfort and culture, all presented with Marie’s eye for beautiful details and a remarkable collection of art.
Sarai Reed’s Cozy DC Apartment Is Big on Style
Sarai Reed is the woman behind Apron Saint, a design and lifestyle brand that offers home consulting services. The brand’s tagline, “home is wherever you are and whatever you make it”, sums up Sarai’s approach to design - home can be created absolutely anywhere, no matter how big or small one’s space is. In Washington DC, Sarai has made her apartment, that’s just a little over 500-square-feet, into a beautifully curated home for herself, her girlfriend April and their dog Lambo.
Pride And Protest: What Should Pride Look Like?
Pride marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, multiple demonstrations as a result of police violence at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. In the early hours of June 28, 1969, Stonewall patrons and community members clashed with police after officers stormed the bar, arresting, violating, and beating people as part of their routine raids on queer establishments. The escalation turned into two days of rebellion and protest, and what is considered to be one of the greatest movements in queer liberation.
Brunch With Purpose: Estelle Colored Glass’ Stunning Fête
Stephanie Summerson Hall is the founder of Estelle Colored Glass, a luxury brand of colored glassware that’s handmade by artisans in Poland. Jewel-tone stemware, decanters and cake stands are all part of Stephanie’s collection that has a cult following. Oprah, Hoda and Martha are fans.
Charles Harbison: Transformation, Rebirth, Re-Emergence
In 2016, Charles Harbison was everywhere. He was a favorite designer of Beyoncé, Solange and Michelle. He had been featured by coveted fashion magazines and was in the spotlight at New York Fashion Week. And then suddenly, he was gone, relocated from New York to Los Angeles, and placing the brand on an indefinite hiatus.
David Quarles: An Artsy Memphis Interior
Life is about passion, finding it and pursuing it. So when life in the corporate sector failed to ignite his, David Quarles IV set off to find it on his own. What he found was that he was a man of many passions, among them his new careers in jewelry design, interior design and fitness. With so much pursuing to do, he needed the right space to do it in, which he found in an artsy mid-century ranch, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Captivating Cartagena
Once the most important seat of Spanish power in the Americas, Cartagena, known then as Cartagena de Indias or Cartagena de Poniente (“of the West”), is one of Colombia’s most populous and visited cities. A stunning mix of natural wonder, intriguing antique architecture, and contemporary flavor, it’s a place where the cannons of centuries-old fortresses still overlook the water, and symbols of imperial power line streets walked by the descendants of conquistadors, slaves, and indigenous people alike.
Attention 21st Century: It’s Time To Grow Up
Centuries are like decades. The first few years of one are mostly indistinguishable from the last few years of the one before. But eventually, new ideas and directions develop — often by recognizing the limitations of what came before — and slowly, an identity emerges. We are now firmly into the second decade of the 21st century. Despite several pivotal moments, this century has yet to fully define itself or honestly evaluate the problems that have developed with ideas, systems, and paradigms that have run their course — and we continue to suffer for it. The year 2020 was a masterclass in the shortcomings of our society in many areas that we consider permanent. But they all had beginnings, so they can have ends. Here are a few things we need to admit that we’ve outgrown in the 21st century.
Fares Micue: Dream Of Me
There’s nothing more mysterious than a dream - and nothing more meaningful. An entire world made up of only one mind, a place where anything can happen and all that does is a reflection of that mind alone. In dreams the emotions are laid bare, though they come wearing guises picked from all the corners of our minds. Like the emotions, dreams can be bewildering, frightening, and most of all, instructive, though the lessons may be hard to grasp. To help us better navigate our own inner worlds, fine art photographer Fares Micune graciously offers us a tour of her own.
Anthony Dunning’s Designer Pad In The Bronx
To say that Anthony Dunning has an eye for design would be an understatement. As the lead designer for his own company, Dunning is responsible for the creation of beautiful spaces in many homes and businesses. His own home is a living portfolio of his design ideas. His two-story apartment, located in the Riverdale section of The Bronx is a design-lover’s dream.