Lifestyle & Culture
South to North, chasing artistic dreams
By Corey Leathers Jr. — Eighteen months. That’s how long it took a transplant from South Carolina to go from being a broke college dropout to paying New York City rent with what he’s earned selling his rap records, designing clothes for his BoofNYC brand and walking the runway at New York Fashion Week. […]
Schooling youth in life and the game
By Bradmond Lee-Harewood — In 2005, Jamel Wright founded the Harlem Jets, hoping to create an opportunity for his son and other inner city children to grow and develop on and off the football field. “I wouldn’t have known it was 20 years if someone else hadn’t told me,” Wright said. “The work is just […]
Mental health for Black men
By Johnathan Hooker — Black men are among the least likely people to seek mental health counseling. Some Black therapists are trying to change that by tailoring their services to better attract Black males and hosting workshops just for them. In New York City, licensed clinical social worker Frederick Bush on June 11th kicks off […]
An aid group, mainly, for African immigrants
By Henry Fernandez Planes, buses and blistered feet. Those modes of transit brought two dozen West African immigrants to the United States and, then, one June day to Afrikana, a Harlem nonprofit that helps immigrants build their American lives. Afrikana’s waiting room is where Sweet Mama’s Soul Food used to be. Those looking for help […]
Young adults grapple with high living costs
By Salmoncain Smith-Shomade Tameka Pierre-Jean, a brand manager at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, has a master’s degree and five-plus years of marketing experience. But the 28-year-old Brooklyn native cannot afford to live on her own, given that the average rent on a 447 square-foot studio apartment, according to Apartment.com’s most recent data, was […]
Skaters roll out across NYC
By Niles Garrison Founded in 1996, Wednesday Night Skates‘ weekly rollout has skaters crowding streets and creating their own kind of traffic while dancing to music. “I travel with two JBL speakers but we have guys carrying around boomboxes while skating,” said Michael Grebinsky, a Wednesday Night Skate volunteer organizer. “We enjoy ourselves during our […]
Finding a voice in art
By Grant Hines Watson Mere didn’t speak until he was five years old. Instead, he expressed his wants and needs with pen and paper. “So, if I wanted to use the bathroom, I would draw a toilet. If I wanted to eat, I would draw a piece of spaghetti or spaghetti and meatballs, or something […]
Going from UN expert to a life off the grid
By Darius Osborne Gisele Kamanou traded in her cell phone for a produce stand and her job at the United Nations to do what she really wants: educate the public about her alternative approach to food and lifestyle. “I refrain from advertising myself because of the modern processes it involves … So many constructs and […]
Making do with high grocery prices
By Cameron Belcher Walking into her regular supermarket in the East Village, these days, often makes, Jillian Vigon nervous. “I have to swallow kind of hard at certain items, said Vigon, of what have been some steadily rising prices. The costs of store-bought food increased by 23.5 percent from February 2020 to May 2023, according […]