Nona Hendryx and poet/educator Mahogany L. Browne have been added to AFROPUNK’s Black HERSTORY Live. The celebration lauds  Black women in the arts with a multi-disciplinary show.  India.Arie, artist Mereba, actress and playwright Sarah Jones, choreographer Ebony Williams, and singer-songwriters Celisse, UMI and Danielle Ponder will perform at the event. Black HERSTORY Live will happen at Lincoln Center February 24-25. Tickets are available now. 

Planet Afropunk has announced the lineup for its two-day virtual festival. The shows will stream from Atlanta, South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria and the UK and more. Afrobeats singer Tiwa Savage, R&B singer Ari Lennox and rapper Duckwrth are a few of the artists scheduled to perform. Afropunk is also presenting a variety of speakers including comedian and actress Amanda Seales and singer-songwriter Dawn Richard among others. The free online festival takes place Oct.23-25th. The theme for the first virtual presentation of the 15-year old festival is Planet Afropunk: Past, Present And Future Is Black. Those who attend will be able to donate money to organizations including Black Lives Matters, Black Futures Lab, Color Of Change, Movement For Black Lives, Equal Justice Initiative, Fair Count and The Bail Project. See the full lineup below. 

Afropunk is presenting an all-digital festival this year to bring together the largest virtual gathering of Black creatives worldwide. Planet Afropunk: 2020 Past, Present and Future Is Black will take place October 23-25th. The festival is inspired by all of the social unrest that has happened this year and continues with the response to the police who killed Breonna Taylor not being charged for a crime. 

Planet Afropunk wants to nurture the debate, activism and interaction around racial injustice which is something that usually happens at their physical festival. There will be a space to explore the issue of racism, politics, meditation and Black self-care. The event happens 10 days before the 2020  United States presidential  election and wants to encourage the Afropunk community to vote. According to a press release these will be this year’s digital destinations supported by many partners and BOSE: 

• Ideaville, powered by Target, will be one of the most exciting and anticipated destinations at Planet Afropunk. With keynote speakers, Afropunk Solution Sessions and luminary interviews, Ideaville will empower connections between people, ideas and solutions. With Afropunk, Target will spotlight Black voices and stories, while creating a safe space for all of Afropunk’s communities, featuring a Black Queer Town Hall and community soapbox. 

• Bites&Beats will return this year presented by Grubhub, which will be offering virtual festival-goers access to Black-owned restaurants in North America, which will serve-up curated menus for this year’s festival. 

• Art & Times will create an immersive gallery experience, celebrating hand-picked work from South African artists in collaboration with Esprit, showcasing how unusual and original combinations create something truly unique.

• Hair & Beauty Village will explore all of the facets of Black hair through the eyes of creators, innovators, visionaries and artists to manifest conversations, creativity and community. Hair plays a central role in the identity, self-concept and political consciousness of Black people, and Maui Moisture will be powering important conversations on-platform for festival-goers. 

• Activism Row will generate discussions on prison reform, the failings of the criminal justice system and the systemic racism and segregation plaguing the school system with Ben & Jerry’s, which is leading the social mission to eliminate injustices in Black communities. Non-profit organization AARP will also be celebrating Black roots and activism through a video tribute and encouraging voter registration. 

Planet Afropunk: 2020 Past, Present and Future Is Black will be a free event and festival-goers will be given an option to donate money to organizations including Black Futures Lab, Color of Change, Movement for Black Lives, Equal Justice Initiative, Fair Count, and The Bail Project among others. 

The full line-up will be announced in the coming weeks and the festival can be streamed at PlanetAfropunk.com with exclusive content on Facebook Live from October 23 to October 25.

Afropunk has teamed-up with South Africa’s Vintage Zionist clothing brand to debut their fashion collection. The pieces were unveiled during SA Fashion Week A18. Designers Oscar Ncube and Mandy Newman created the collection that reflects the Afropunk aesthetic through the usage of piercings of African tribesmen and women,  slogans and distressed tees.

The clothing will go on sale in Johannesburg at Afropunk Joberg December 30-31st. The festival takes place at Constitution Hill and the lineup includes Solange, Spoek Mathambo, Black Motion, Theo Parrish and more. Tickets are on sale now.