I finally went to Afropunk this year and I absolutely loved it! Before I even get through the entrance I see stylish black women with amazing natural hairstyles and outfits full of color. I bought a weekend pass so the guy at the front gives me this orange cloth wristband, which apparently is used for multiple festivals. But this is my first ever festival so I look up a video to learn how to take it off without cutting it.
Spinthrift Market
Anyway, when we walk in we see the green stage and a DJ is playing some songs. I immediately go to get some chicken and waffles even though I had just eaten some wings because I love eating and for some reason I thought the food was going to run out. After that, I went to the Spinthrift Market area to check out what they had in there. There were plenty of black owned companies and I stopped at clothing booth called Stuzo. They had an extensive collection of pro black shirts. I originally bought a black crop top with Queen written across the front because I am a queen and they didn’t have a crop top with goddess on the front. Then, I stopped by the planned parenthood booth to sign a petition that was against Donald Trump getting rid of access to birth control. They also had signs that said “Stand with Black Women” and I’m a Black Woman so of course I stand with my sisters. Also, it’s stupid to get rid of birth control and access abortions and old white men shouldn’t have the power to make these kinds of decisions.
Next, I stopped at this booth that had card games called trading rappers and trading races. A group of people were playing trading rappers so I sat down to see how to play the game and engage in the discussion. The rules were pretty simple, you just have to convince everyone else that you have the best rapper. The only critique I would have on the game is that there should be set of guidelines to determine the best rapper like lyricism and contribution to the community. These were topics that naturally came up already, but I just feel like people can make up their own criteria and there’s not really a fair protocol on how the rappers are judged. But maybe that’s the point because it garners more conversation.
I also stopped by a few jewelry places and I wanted some earrings that were shaped like Africa, but I wasn’t willing to pay $40 for a pair. Maybe I’m cheap or maybe I’m used to buying multiple pairs of earrings for less than $10. I just didn’t understand that cost. But power to the people that bought them and the people that made them. Get that money and spend that money.
There was also a booth that had old articles and magazines from the 60’s and 70’s and books about race. I looked a news article that was published by the Black Panther Party in the 70’s and it was really sad. I had to stop hold back my tears because I don’t like crying in public. In the piece that I read, a black man was followed by a white woman in her car while she was walking down the street because she was mad that he touched her car. And the reason he had even touched her car was because while he was walking on the sidewalk she almost backed into him while coming out of her driveway. But she followed him in her car while yelling slurs at him. Then, called some police officers over and blatantly lied and said he had endangered her life. So of course the officers ganged up on him and one of them shot him. But not only did he shoot the black man, he shot two of the other cops in the process. And the media lied and said the black man managed to get free from all of the cops, shoot and wound two and that’s why they shot him. It just made me emotional because literally nothing has changed and we now have video footage.
Next, we went to see where the red stage and gold lounge was. There was so much art on the walls and the decor was stunning. The gold lounge was a resting and sitting area. It felt like a huge artistic living space. There were solution sessions held there earlier during the day, but I missed them.
There was also catering by this company called iNatural and they had their oreo cake tasted bomb af. It tasted like a moist lemon pound cake with oreo frosting.
Mykki Blanco
When Mykki Blanco came to the stage, I didn’t know what to expect. I had never listened to her music so I just wanted to see what it sounded like. But the performance that she gave was some next level stuff. She stood on speakers and broke crates and mic stands on the stage. I was honestly afraid that she was going to throw something into the crowd and I was not prepared to catch it at all so I thought I was gonna get knocked out. Luckily she didn’t. However, she did jump into the crowd and form a circle where she danced and crawled on the floor. She also climbed a wall and I thought to myself she’s very athletic and brave because I would never do that unless I knew someone was going to catch me. At the end of her performance she took off her blonde wig. The wig that never came off as she was swinging her head back in forth and climbing walls. Maybe I should start investing in wigs too. But she was an energetic performer and now I want to explore some of her music.
Danny Brown
Danny Brown was another artist that I had heard of and wanted to check out. Although the lights made it difficult to take a clear picture of him with my phone, his sound was great. And the lights looked good too. They just weren’t good for pictures. He also sounded very clear even though he rapped really fast. I don’t remember there being any feedback either. His audio engineer did a great job in making sure he sounded crisp. As his performance went on, I found my self becoming more hype. I was jumping up and down with the crowd and I didn’t even know the words. Brown’s stage presence blew me away.
Miguel
Miguel closed the festival on Saturday and he was too sexy. Unfortunately, I only listened to Miguel’s older songs and not his last album. Therefore, I didn’t know most of the songs that he sang. However, he voice was sexy enough to keep me entertained. When he asked, “How many drinks would it take you to leave with me?” A lot of the crowd put up a zero because who needs to be drunk to leave with Miguel. All he has to do is look me right in the eye and I would follow him. But he was definitely trying to help some guys out because he told them to look around for the girls that were holding zero. What Miguel failed to realize was that the zero was only for him.
Overall day 1 was all about getting know Afropunk. I was excited for the next day.
