As a documentary photographer and photojournalist, my life has kept me on a perpetual global track. For years, when summer rolled around, I was simply out of the country. One year, I was attending intensive workshops in Cape Town. Another summer, I was conducting professional development workshops for local artists in Kampala, Uganda. Just last year, I was deep in Senegal researching the life of Omar Ibn Said for The New York Times.
This year has been an incredible one for me. I recently finished a wonderful semester with my photography students at Rutgers University. On top of teaching, I organized an international conference on photography archives in Accra, Ghana. It’s been a lot.
Knowing I would be in the U.S. for the summer for the first time in a while, I caught myself about to fall into the familiar trap of using my break to plan for upcoming fall exhibitions and academic syllabi. I had to stop and say to myself, ‘No, you deserve to have some fun.’ I made a deliberate choice not to let the summer only be an extension of the grind.
It’s wild to admit, I’ve been to New Orleans countless times for exhibitions and other artistic endeavors, but my schedule never lined up for me to attend the ESSENCE Festival of Culture. I was literally living vicariously through my friends’ social media posts.
This year, I forced the space. I wanted to experience what I always imagined the festival to be: a concentrated space of love, sisterhood, beauty, and radical affirmation for Black women. I needed that energy for myself.
To be in New Orleans, surrounded by Black women, during the 250th anniversary of this country’s founding, also felt deeply symbolic. There felt like no better, more perfect way to spend this historic moment in time than being wrapped in the community of Black women who continue to carry that vision forward.
I arrived in NOLA from New York City at 9:00 a.m. the day before the festival kicked off. The excitement began before I even touched down as Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, and I were on the same flight. She even smiled and gave me a compliment. Once I landed, watching more flights arrive from all over the country was incredible. Seeing beautiful Black women, Black families, and Black couples get off planes and wait at the baggage carousel to collect their luggage set the tone. All you could hear and feel was the excitement, the conversations about returning, first-time experiences, and who everyone was most excited to see at the evening concerts. The energy in the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport that morning was unreal, and I knew right then it was going to be an incredible time.
As a Gen Xer, I was personally thrilled because I missed the Brandy and Monica tour last year, and EFOC gave me a second chance to see them perform together! Beyond the Superdome stage, my favorite parts were found in the community spaces at the Convention Center. I loved running into my friend L. Kasimu Harris, a local photographer who is doing incredible work documenting the vanishing bars of New Orleans. I loved seeing Mara Brock Akil and Amy DuBois Barnett speak about their debut novels. I was also so inspired by the Black entrepreneurs at Beautycon. Being in a space where our hair and our skin were considered first, having access to products designed to literally and figuratively love up on us, was beautiful. And I must mention the men who showed out, whether by themselves, with their families or with their partners, bringing their beautifully moisturized beards and the fresh kicks.
The sisterhood at Festival is a deep, unspoken understanding that our connection is both national and global. Some of the people I spoke with came from all different corners of the country, carrying roots from every part of the Diaspora. It was beautiful to witness. This Festival truly is a space of opportunity, possibility, and joy. It serves as a powerful reminder that we are not alone. It roots us back into our tradition of working in unity, and it reminds us that we don’t just survive, we thrive in community. The compliments and the praise. I love that whenever I am in the company of Black women, we naturally affirm one another.
At the end of the day, my first EFOC was pure joy. It felt safe. I am so grateful. The entire weekend was unforgettable. I will be returning with an eagerness to continue the deep conversations I started last weekend. I want to keep experiencing the possibility, beauty, and safety that the ESSENCE Festival of Culture has to offer. I will absolutely be back.
