83 Search results for "traditions"

Gender expectations are a thing of the past, especially when your name is Jaden Smith. His gender presentation has made the official entrance into fashion as he has been crowned as the new face of Louis Vuitton’s womenswear campaign.

by Juahl Ganaway In a scene ripped from The Sugar Shack, the character Pearline (played by the stunning Jayme Lawson) stalks across the stage purring the lyrics to “Pale, Pale, Moon,” the Brittany Howard-penned song that feels more like an invocation than a performance.  “I wanna sing Like I hear the crickets do I wanna […]

by Naiquan. Last summer, a friend and I realized we hadn’t seen children playing in the fire hydrant. No elder on the block with a key to unlock the “Johnny Pump”. As a child of the Brooklyn Spike Lee portrayed in “Crooklyn,” I know first-hand the feelings of protection and support from my neighbor’s grandfather, […]

by Amber Butts My maternal grandmother, Audrie, who was a second mother to me, was my first entry point in witnessing mutual aid in practice. She became a widow before the age of 21, followed by a long bout of alcoholism and depression. She experienced her share of heartbreak. She and my maternal grandfather were […]

A rebuilt home for Black feminist, abolitionist storytelling—created to protect community memory, sustain truth-telling, and expand our archive. CHICAGO, IL (February 26, 2026) — Black Youth Project (BYP) announces the relaunch of its digital platform at a moment when Black media is being systematically eroded—from publications closing without warning to the displacement of Black women […]

Creative expression did not begin with writing. It began with voice — with stories spoken across rooms, songs carried across distance, rhythms tapped into tabletops and knees when words alone could not hold what needed to be said. Long before notebooks, microphones, or publishing platforms, Black communities were shaping experience into sound and gesture so […]

Week One: Penelope French Introducing Penelope French (she/ he/ they) — the gypsy soul healer and Soul Empress whose music carries a lineage shaped by Black struggle, memory, and imagination. Raised in Lansing, Michigan, French grew up surrounded by the sounds of Motown, gospel quartets, and soul traditions that have long carried the emotional and […]

Breathe, from Gira Soul’s album The Clay, reflects the kinds of questions that run through much of her music: how do we remain present with ourselves and each other while living through difficult and uncertain times? The track unfolds slowly, allowing space for reflection rather than rushing toward a conclusion. In that quiet pacing, breath […]

By Teju Adisa-Farrar When God made mountains He made runaway slaves — Nikki Giovanni, Chasing Utopia We were not supposed to survive. in 2018, AfroPunk published an article about Argentina’s genocide of their Black populations. Unsurprisingly, Argentina is not much different from other countries who have tried to erase their Black populations or their impact […]

I’ve learned it’s best not to try to control how the memories of my mother show up, or what emotions they are wearing when they enter. This one is dressed in a rare crossbreed of inconsolable laughter and a stabbing sob, and it’s seeping out of my iphone from wherever the speaker is located on […]

There aren’t enough accessible therapists to go around. I met this reality after an Ifa divination that I got while I was in Cuba, and my dreams for an entire year afterward, told me that I needed to focus on my mental health. My ancestors were LOUD about the mental work that I needed to […]

The day I thought that Chadwick Boseman was James Brown, he lit up the screen with his rosewood colored skin and small gap. He was not the real James Brown except that he was, for over two hours he was James Brown. “Get On Up” was the first time I’d seen Chadwick’s acting skills, but […]