Modern Griots Review: Afropunk Fest Pushes Beyond Boundaries…

When councilwoman Letitia James said that Afropunk was about going beyond boundaries, she was right and this year’s festival did that in several ways. After last year’s cancellation due to stormy weather and my first attendance at Afropunk Fest two years, there have been big changes, some for the good and some for the maybe […]

Behind the Mask: Butch Diva

Brooklyn fashion designer Tiffany Rhodes, the “Queen of Spandex,” is raising money to open a store for her line, Butch Diva. In the description of the name of her line, she explained, “I thought ‘butch’ was an expression of androgyny, boldness, masculine aggression, and a tough edge, and ‘diva’ was still sexy, feminine, boss, and […]

Behind the Mask: I Met A Clown…

Last weekend, I went to Brooklyn for the Soul of Brooklyn Block Party. I was curious to know what was going on there. While it didn’t turn out to be the block party atmosphere I expected, I was able to listen to a couple of steel pan players do their own version of popular songs, […]

Moving-on-the-Wires: Call for Participants: Beyond and Between the Crescent and the Cross

If any of you are interested, here is a project about the diaspora and spirituality that I saw on poet Caits Meissner‘s blog: “My name is Kameelah Janan Rasheed and I am a photo-based artist, archivist & historian, writer, and high school teacher based in Brooklyn, NY. I am embarking on a new project that […]

Otherworldy Videos: New York Flexing

“Zilla March”: Flexing in the New York subways “Flexing, or bone breaking, is a mix of street dancing and contortionist movements mostly specific to Brooklyn. This video in particular is mesmerizing, almost ritualistic with this group of shirtless guys [they forgot to mention the female dancer] in gas masks all dancing together in the subway. […]

Starlite,Star bright, Support This with All Your Might…

“The Starlite Project is a feature-length documentary film titled Starlite and an interactive website based on the making and the taking of the historic Starlite Lounge- the oldest black-owned gay bar in Brooklyn. The goals of the Project are to preserve the historic memory of the Starlite and to counteract the forces which contributed to its closing. See […]

From the Top: Recap of Festival of the New Black Imagination

Saturday was jam-packed with lectures, panel discussions and readings and I am still trying to process it all. Lasting from 10 in the morning to around 6:30 in the evening, the festival started with the futurist and professor of management, Nat Irvin II, discussing the importance of futuristic thinking. His son is actually Nat Irvin […]

The New Black Imagination!

Rob Fields, creator of the black music blog Bold As Love, is planning for the first Festival of the New Black Imagination in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 15 and needs your support. This is the description of the festival: “Our Story The Festival of the New Black Imagination is about the future of black […]