On this past Saturday afternoon, I had the opportunity to participate in some real life “Black Girl Magic”!! As part of the “Black Feminist Future Series” put on by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, myself and four other AMAZING Black Afrofuturist women (Susana Morris , Tiffany E. Barber, Esther L. Jones, and Kinitra D. Brooks [moderator]) took part in a very fulfilling conversation about Black women and theories of the future!!
Nothing like sharing the “virtual” stage with a group of brilliant minds such as these Black women!! My mind, body, and soul were overflowing with Black joy and hope!!
Check it out below:
For more upcoming “Black Feminist Futures” events at the Schomburg check out the following link here!!
To All My Chefs & Mixologists (novice and professional) out there, this is for you!
Who doesn’t love a mouth-watering, soulful meal or a delightful spirit to cap off the night?!! Well I wanted to add to your “must-see and must-try” lists by highlighting the spirit and culinary world with a few cookbooks, wineries, breweries, creators and organizations that are making Black History!!
Not surprisingly, Black Americans have contributed significantly (and still do) to the culinary world and cocktail/wine/brewery culture. We have been tastemakers and drink-makers since the beginning of time :-). Cooking and feeding the soul is in the DNA of African Americans (check out Netflix’s High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America if you don’t believe me)!
As it relates to the spirit world, I recently learned that there was a Black Mixology Club that was founded in 1898 by R. R. Bowie and J. Burke Edelin that was a “marquee professional association,” and a gathering place for African Americans who were trying to move up the ladder of social mobility within professional bartending [Check out these pioneers as well: Cato Alexander, John Dabney, Tom Bullock, and Dick “Uncle Dick” Francis].
Now let me say this…. the following below is by no means the only folks that have been and are in the game just a few to wet your palette (literally and figuratively), because I know there are tons of Black folks making history!!
So get ready to pop some bottles, plan your next couple or friends getaway, pull out those pots and pans, turn on your ovens, and make some magical memories!!
Atlantucky Brewing, Owned by Fish Scales, Skinny DeVille, B. Stille, and Ron Clutch aka ‘Nappy Roots’
Moor’s Brewing [Founders/Owners-Jamhal Johnson and Damon Patton], Funkytown Brewery [Founders/Owners-Richard Bloomfield, Zachary Day and Gregory Williams], Turner Haus Brewery [Founders/Owners-Steven Turner, Blair Turner-Aikens and Nathaniel Aikens], Black Horizon Brewery [Co-owner Charles St. Clair] (All based out of Chicago, IL)
Black Future Feminist 