The Art of Community

To me, community is the heartbeat of art making. I love to step out to a festival and smell the scents of Black culture. Incense burning, shea butter and oils aligning tables; the food of the soul being soul for plates and platters that warm your spirit. A farmers' market or festival is where we can all come to a place and breathe the empowering air of our diverse culture. The sounds of djembe drums and conga’s send us back to the continent. We give head nods as greetings as we walk past men and women and embrace them as kings and queens.

“As so much traditional black folk experience is lost and forgotten, as we lose sight of the rich experience of working-class black people in our transnational corporate society, many of us are looking to art to recover and claim a relationship to an African American past in images.”

Art on My Mind, bell hooks

Then there is the art and creative expressions. People making jewelry and selling handmade clothing. The colors are as vibrant as the multiplicities of auras in attendance. A block or a town can be turned into a magical paradise with just the gathering of our community. Freedom and peace is what we all are hungry for. These expressions are indelible imprints in our memories.

In the first issue of Black Folk Art Magazine, I wrote about the origins of Black Folk Art. I also shared my journey of growing up on the east coast and visiting cities like New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. After moving to the West Coast four years ago, I’ve wanted to visit some of the Black communities here in California and am finally getting a chance to see more of the communities that have such strong foundations and powerful individuals that worked hard to build creative spaces for the Black community.

Recently, on a visit to Leimert Park in Los Angeles, I met some of the artist that are continuing the traditions of our ancestors. In this article I would like to highlight some of these individuals. I first heard of Leimert Park in a book. A mentor of mine gave me a book that since receiving, I have read faithfully every year. It is one of my favorite books, Raising Fences: A Black Man’s Love Story by Michael Datcher. I was a poet living in New Jersey at the time and I felt transported reading his book. I dreamed of this space. I read about poetry nights at The World Stage and the drums outside full of life, inviting souls to dance to their ancient rhythms. This visit was a full circle experience for me.

I met a friend of mine, who is a staple in the community, to show me around. His name is Carlos Spivey. Carlos is a master artist with various mediums from painting to textiles to mosaics to ceramics and he often mixes these medias in his beautiful art pieces. He is an artist-in-residence at the infamous Watts Towers. I met Carlos when visiting the Craft Contemporary Museum in Los Angeles. His quilts were on exhibit. I stopped by the museum before making my way north, to Fresno, CA. I learned that he was teaching a quilting class and I was able to join it that day. We met and I am glad we stayed connected. He would be my tour guide for my day at Leimert park.

I got to Leimert Park early on a Sunday morning to sit and write. I found a cafe that was full of life, both inside and out. Hot and Cool Cafe sits as a hub, a Black owned vegan cafe located in a place that, like many Black neighborhoods, has historically been known as a food desert. Much respect to its founders, Tony Jolly and Tina Amin. As I sat, alternating between my smoothie and my tea, writing, and enjoying the God curated array of people stepping in and out of the cafe, the barista, Honey Blu, shared with me her music that she had been working on and an album that which is full of textiles, sculptures, art, jewelry, body care products, and crafts, all reflecting the African Diaspora.

As we walked, Carlos introduced me to the fashion designer and artist, Buna Diagne. Buna and his wife own the company Wolof Wear. Beautiful pieces of clothing were on display, exploration and met the master jeweler, Douglass Designs. Douglass had an array of handcrafted jewelry. I commissioned him to create a piece for me right there on the spot. He made a beautiful ring and I got to see and experience the production from start to finish. I was able to choose my own stone. I chose the beautiful purple, calming stone, amethyst.

Inside Hot and Cool Café, 4331 Degnan Blvd. Los Angeles, CA

@hotandcoolcafe she had just finished. I went to her SoundCloud and listened to her music as I continued my writing.

As Carlos showed me around, he introduced me to Sika Dwimfo who is known as the Godfather of Leimert Park. Sika owns a store affectionately named “Sika”

@wolofwear presenting like an African quilt with pieces of fabric sewn together full of the colors and diversity that represent his native home, Senegal, Africa.

We continued on our

Our journey ended with us sitting and eating outside next to the sounds of djembes and social interactions. We ate one of my favorite cuisines, Jamaican Food. The restaurant Ackee Bamboo has been servicing the community of Inglewood since 2004. It was the perfect completion of a perfect day. We ate and laughed and enjoyed the community that inspired the art that we see and enjoy. This art is worn and hung and read. This art is used for cooking and decorating. This art warms our souls and comforts our hearts. This art cleanses and heals. This art invigorates our minds and most of all, this art brings a oneness to our diasporic community. It is the true reflection of our spirits and the spirits that have gone before us. With this article, I honor the artist that do the work to share with the world who we are as a people and the culture that will continue to live on many generations after us.

@nefesharuth

@michaeldatcher www.michaeldatcher.com

@theworldstage www.theworldstage.org

Walk

I am trying to learn to walk again… all tensed and trembling I try so hard, so hard…

Not like the headlong patter of new and anxious feet or the vigorous flailing of the water by young swimmers beating a new element into submission… It is more like a timorous Lazarus commanded to take up the bed on which he died…

I know I will walk again into your healing outstretched arms in answer to your tender command… I have been lost and fallen in the dark underbrush but I will arise and walk and find the path at your soft command.