John Crooms “Everybody’s Favorite Photographer” Well it’s Labor Day Weekend in Atlanta and that means it was time for House In The Park . All I can say about House In The Park 6 was WOW !!!! This was a event that will go down in history . Atlanta showed out Sunday afternoon, I’m guesstimating over 3000 people descended on Perkerson Park in Southwest Atlanta to hear Djs Kemit , Salah Ananse , Ramon Rawsoul, and Kai Alce play some of the best current and classic House Music . The Vibe at House In The Park 6 was real positive and the energy was good. Children playing...

“House in the Park is an annual music festival bringing together innovative musicians, DJs, and a diverse audience in a beautiful outdoor park space since 2005. HITP provides a family-oriented atmosphere, and is known throughout the Southeast as the “MUST-attend-event” for avid fans of deep house-music, Afrobeat and soul classics, and attracts over 1,000 people. HITP is held the Sunday before Labor Day, from noon to 8pm in an Atlanta park and is open to the public.” That’s the statement on their website. I had heard about the event earlier this year; a lot of my friends had...

by Vincent So there I was. Out in the crowd of folks waiting to get into the Royal Peacock. I’d missed its grand reopening a couple of weeks before and was really looking forward to checking it out. An Atlantic Records recording artist out of New York, Ricky Blaze, was headlining and I was very curious about the vibe, crowd and the music. The crowd with anticipation and for good reason. The music, a strong reggae mix with hip hop flavor sprinkled in, got the crowd on the floor and brought the club alive. This was a Saturday night and the crowd was younger than the crowd had, typically, been...

” Yeah! This is it! We can do this! Oh yeah, we can do this! And I can DJ it too! I KNOW how I can make this work! Oh yeah this is the bomb BUT I know what I would DIFFERENT! WE HAVE GOTTA DO THIS!” Now I know that wasn’t exactly what David said but that’s about the way I remember it. David Albert, a dog groomer and renaissance man of many talents, was talking about the Crochet Strut event we did a while back. He came thru, loved it and could wait to do another one with his particular spin on it. At the Crochet Strut, he took down names and emails so that when he did put...

So I am wrapping up this shoot with MoEss (the earthSista formerly know as MoreEssence) and Chadoe. We had just completed a beautiful nature shoot with the fashion designer HarvestGirl (damn, I just realized I have shown those to you yet and they were BEAUTIFUL. I’m gonna have to fix that!) Anyway, I got a call from the artist John Glover asking me if I intend to attend his party three days later on the rooftop of his factory loft apartment in Atlanta. I said yes and he reminded me that I was supposed to ask around for sistas who might want to be bodypainted for the event. I asked MoEss and...

by vincent & tafakari (WHAT ?! I wasn’t even there!) It all started when we did the T-shirt shoot for RepJa.  It was a fun Sunday afternoon and my girl Tara showed up to film the behind-the-scenes (she thinks she’s an auteur or something).  We were having so much fun that, on an impulse, we decided to have a get-together at her shop, The Crochet Fashion Gallery.  Tara and I didn’t know what we were going to do or what it was going to be about, but we knew we were going to do it in a week (because it was the last week of free parking).  Finally, we decided to go with The...

Jouvert is defined by most West Indians as the official warm up to Carnival! Atlanta Jouvert is Atlanta’s Biggest Indoor Carribean Party. Quickly becoming new tradition in the ATL, this 6th annual event typically happens the Friday of Memorial Weekend and its viewed as the launch party for Atlanta’s Carribean Carnival. Taking place at the Atrium in Stone Mountain, (just east of Atlanta), the doors didn’t even open until 10 pm and the party went on until 7 am Saturday morning; not unusual for a West Indian party in Atlanta. There were a dozen DJs playing Soca and Reggae early into...

The Community Aid and Development Corporation (CAD) is sponsoring the 21st Annual Malcolm X Festival along with the Atlanta Chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. At the event, all activities, including speeches, solidarity statements, spiritual affirmations, and musical performances will relate to Malcolm’s message of Human Rights and Self-Determination. The purpose of the festival is to provide us an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the legacy of an international African icon by means of a cultural celebration which promotes unity while honoring diversity. According to their...

Kirei Na’s birthday was just a few days before the New Year, providing the perfect opportunity for a Pangea’s Garden gathering. And what started out as an Open Mic event, quickly became a night of intimate and passionate verse, setting the tone for events in the future. I’ve included a few captures of the event along with one spoken words musings brought to us by ButtahFly. You can see more captures, another video and some paparazzi-style shots PangeasGarden.com’s newly founded blog. This was the Garden’s first public event and we have planned another for Wednesday...

And the story continues…. “Pangaea’s Garden is the sanctuary for striking images that pay homage to the exotic beauty of that Earth Sista that was always close to home. This is a place for the art, images and culture that capture the sensuous harmony of the earthbound soul. The works featured here can be created by anyone who has an appreciation for the aesthetic. Feel free to join us in cultivating the garden. Lets help the project to grow.” That was the our statement in the beginning. On the blog on blogspot. It started with a story about woman who thought the brothers were...