Celebrate! Black Artists, Designers, Storytellers

In 2014, entrepreneur and Tanzania native Fatima Kanji noticed a disturbing trend when she started checking the tags on her clothing. Many of the “African” clothes she had purchased were, in fact, mass-produced in Asian countries like Bangladesh or India. So she founded Pensar Africa, which ethically sources fabric and other goods from African artisans and sells them to buyers across the Americas.

This powerhouse mother-daughter duo is the driving force of Harlem Fashion Week, which showcases global designers of color and puts Harlem on the international fashion stage. Highlighting trends that originate in communities of color, Harlem’s fashion week counters cultural appropriation and has attracted designers and sponsors in droves.

The fashion industry notoriously pandered to racist stereotypes in the past. But now? The revolution is going far beyond Harlem. There’s Kerby Jean-Raymond at Pyer Moss, Shayne Oliver at Helmut Lang and, of course, the late Virgil Abloh — Louis Vuitton’s first Black artistic director who was a rare Black designer at the top of a French heritage house. Meanwhile, Kanye West has his own clothing line, and Rihanna and Jay-Z have served as creative directors at Puma. Will the next Karl Lagerfeld be Black?

The Nigerian designer is defying his country’s deep-rooted traditional views of masculinity with a gender-fluid clothing brand that has become wildly popular — in a nation where same-sex marriages are banned and gay-interest groups are criminalized. Oke-Lawal’s brand Orange Culture deliberately embraces styles and fabrics perceived as effeminate to challenge mainstream notions of what men should wear.

While caring for her sick father, Okaro found herself using sewing to de-stress. She then became inspired to create Custom Collaborative, a skills incubator for low-income women or women from immigrant communities who want to start fashion businesses. The Manhattan-based collective is all about empowering women who are traditionally taken advantage of by the fashion industry and encouraging consumers to pay attention to the handicraft (and environmental impact) behind their purchases.

You don’t have to enroll in a prestigious design school to be a successful designer. Just ask Tanzanian designer Sheria Ngowi. A lawyer by trade, Ngowi tells OZY that despite his lack of formal training, his designs have been featured alongside pieces from Paul Smith, Burberry and Tom Ford at prestigious fashion week showcases around the world. Ngowi is part of a rapidly expanding cohort of African designers who have impacted the fashion world without spending a day in design school.

When Vivian Bolden — better known as Baha Bank$ — released “Shake Dat A$$” with Chance the Rapper, it was a surprise to everyone: the music industry, her friends — even herself. “[Rap] was never initially the plan,” Bank$ told OZY. “My grandpa still knows nothing about it.” At the time, she was finishing her degree in biology and sustainability at Roosevelt University. Today, she’s fast emerging as the latest rap sensation, releasing “Drip” and even nabbing a spot as a performer in the Summer Smash Festival.

Many fans know composer Terence Blanchard from his collaborations with Spike Lee on films from “Jungle Fever” to “Mo’ Better Blues.” But Blanchard has now created “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” an operatic adaptation of fellow Louisianan and New York Times journalist Charles Blow’s 2014 memoir. In 2021, Blanchard's opera became the first production created by an African American to appear at the New York Metropolitan Opera in its 138-year history.

Write, rap, shoot, upload … repeat. This was how Carter practiced her craft, and it worked. Her process has led to hundreds of thousands of views across various platforms, a local distribution deal and shoutouts from rap royalty like Missy Elliott and members of the label TDE. Carter’s talent comes from her spoken-word roots, and her must-listen debut album “As I Am” is a culmination of this talent mixed with faith and persistence.

on The Carlos Watson Show!

We witnessed the inspiring young wordsmith make history with her poetry and performance during the 2021 presidential inauguration. Now, 2017 OZY Genius Award recipient Amanda Gorman is speaking to the next generation of writers, poets and thinkers with her children’s book, “Change Sings,” featuring illustrations from Loren Long. The lyrical picture book, described as a “musical journey of hope and inspiration that will remind us all that change is good and necessary,” was released alongside Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb and Other Poems.”

Nigerian American director Funa Maduka, famous for her international films on Netflix, is dedicated to elevating the voices of the unseen. During her tenure, Netflix acquired dozens of titles from across Africa and commissioned original flicks from Nigeria and South Africa. She has since left the streaming giant to work on her own projects and has plans to uplift other previously unheard voices.

Bestselling legal thriller “While Justice Sleeps” is actually the ninth novel of former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives Stacey Abrams, whose previous eight novels are romances published under her pen name, Selena Montgomery. The tension-filled “While Justice Sleeps” focuses on a young law clerk who unexpectedly becomes the legal guardian of her boss, a Supreme Court justice, who has fallen into a coma. But that’s just the start of this novel of many twists. OZY first profiled the trailblazing Abrams back in 2016.

What Black artist, designer, or storyteller would you add to this list and why?

Share your thoughts with us at OzyCommunity@Ozy.com.