“Natural hair hasn’t been this popular since black people started wearing Afros in the 1960s. And today, there are more natural hair enthusiasts than ever before.” –Kalin Thomas, The Atlanta Voice “This event gets bigger every year. We’re different from the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show because we focus on bringing out your natural beauty, with no weaves and no harsh chemicals that have caused so many health issues and hair loss,” said Calla Johnson to Atlanta Voice reporter Kalin Thomas. Johnson is CEO of Certified To Be Natural and a representative for the show’s...

Photo shoot credits: Photographer: Jan Lehner Model: Sycha Mubiaya @ D1 Stylist: Chukwunwinke Obi Hair & Make-up: Natasha Zaki Jewellery: Pebble London & Maria Zureta Sycha Mubiaya was on the cover of Helen Jenning’s book ‘New African Fashion’. The book chronicles Africa’s massive influence on fashion, from Yves St. Laurent’s use of African prints to the present day. About the book: “It was in 1907, Picasso admitted to the venerable French writer André Malraux, that he was so utterly stunned by his encounter with African art that he kept repeating the...

When I began Pangea’s Garden, I was told about the World Natural Hair Show. At the time it was just a blog and I was simply exploring my own interest of capturing images of natural beauty. I missed the opportunity to attend the WNHS that first time and came to regret it. Not then, but later, because as I created my works, it became more important the sources of this aesthetic. The culture that cultivated the beauty is significant and I began to appreciate that. When the chance came again the following year I leapt at it. This feature is one of the foundations of the Garden. Bookmark on Delicious...

Elusive and ephemeral. Wildly chaotic and creative in its moves. Mysterious…you never know what its going to do next and yet it never ceases to entertain and inspire you. The Creative Culture Collective (CCC) and … smoke. These are characteristics that they both share. Last year, Nefertiti of the nefTUNES invited me to a new event she was trying. Its something different, a step away from the Open Mic Fridays that she was famous for at the time. No, this had that air of exotic mystery to it. A little more subdued and laid back compared to the loud cacophony of creativity that was the...

Like the phoenix, I rose up from the ashes of my self-destruction.  I was reborn anew to manifest this life better than before.  Heartbreak, betrayal, fear, and depression nearly ended my life.  There were countless times where I thought, “If I could just disappear, I truly would.  I don’t want to go through this pain.” I looked to people and things to make me happy, excited to be alive, and to feel beautiful, only for it to be a temporary fix.  I craved to have some kind of approval from others to have them tell me that I’m a good person, a loving, caring individual, if I’m talented...

Hey I am Patricia Nobella and I am wearing a blue poke a dot dress that zips up the front.I like to accessorize so I added a red patten leather belt to match my red patten leather wedge shoes.I like the 50’s look so I added the vintage pearls with my ruby red lips and black eyeliner to give me that look.My jewelry is vintage I got it from an estate sale ladies this is how to shop old people die all the time take advantage of it I always find great stuff.Of course I had to add the head wrap to finish my look.I can rock this outfit going out to a show or just to hang out with the girls. DRESS...

Last month, the Creative Culture Collective honored the birth anniversary of Bob Marley with a Reggae Tribute at the Apache Cafe in the ATL. Its was cool night featuring performances from the likes of Justa Sol, Nefertiti, Aja Ray Bethany Embry, Ken J. Martin and Nefertiti aka nefTUNES who put their hearts and souls into sharing their unique talents with the people. The Apache Cafe & Lounge proved to be the perfect venue. It has long been the place where raw artists and musicians congregated to share the fruits of their passions with rest world; a testing ground for creative scientists taking...

Recently, I was invited by earthSista KireiNa to check out her performance, along with others, at an Atlanta showing of the Vagina Monologues. I knew little about the show. I’d seen it promoted before and knew of the press it had received in the past due to celebrity participation. I also knew it to be a a production in the form of a testimonial format. And I’d come to think of it as ‘a show by women for women.’ I did not know that the productions of the show were held for charitable purposes and that every woman that asked to be part of a the show had to be given a role....

Today, I am pleased to add earthSista SepiaAngel has stepped up to the role of Editor here in Pangea’s Garden. Sepia has been an avid participant and contributor here since her debut in September of last year. She calls herself “a wife, mother, sister, granddaughter, aunt, friend, model and creative soul.” She is also a student of the Graphic Arts and true cultivator of the culture of Afrosensual beauty. Sepia has chronicled her explorations into her own afrosensuality, here in the Garden. She has been a muse to artistic photographer Remy the ECCENTRICsoul. And together they...

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie In Nigeria, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun has helped inspire new, cross-generational communication about the Biafran war. In this and in her other works, she seeks to instill dignity into the finest details of each character, whether poor, middle class or rich, exposing along the way the deep scars of colonialism in the African landscape. Adichie’s newest book, The...