afropunk atl: solution sessions // black joy and liberation

By Bridget Todd

October 17, 2019

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From Harry Belafonte to Beyonce, Black artists have always blended creative expression with activism. Everyone knows AFROPUNK for the electric musicians and performances, but against the backdrop of Anderson .Paak and FKA twigs, folks turned out to Solution Sessions, AFROPUNK’s two-day festival forum for Black activists, artists and creatives to talk about real world solutions to some of the biggest problems facing our communities.

No trip to Atlanta would be complete without a visit to Spelman College and we started our festival weekend on campus, where the Solution Sessions team facilitated an intimate open discussion about Black women, mental health and success. The Spelman students opened up about the pressures they sometimes feel trying to live up to expectations around success. Those same students continued those conversations by curating a dialogue on Black women, and mental health featuring licensed psychologist and creator of Therapy for Black Girls, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, DJ and mental health advocate Simi Moonlight and Spelman professor Dr. Watson-Singleton. The audience was vulnerable about their own struggles with mental health, which for Black folks, is a radical thing.

Femme and fabulous, Atlanta’s own Ashleigh Shackelford curated an important conversation around what Black gender liberation looks like in the Deep South, featuring Da’Shaun L. Harrison and Kelli ‘Kae’ Goode, and the participants opened up about the nuance and spectrum of the Black gender experience in Atlanta.

As we’re coming up to one of the most important elections in recent years, we held space for talking to Black organizers Aja Monet, Philip Agnew and Tif Smith about what’s at stake in 2020 and how we can all get involved.

AFROPUNK’s own cultural icon Emil Wilbekin, founder of Native Son, a safe advocacy space for Black gay men, facilitated a community conversation between cultural icons Raquel Willis and April Reign, the creator of the viral hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. My personal favorite moment was when Wilbekin reminded us all that Willis had made history as the first trans Executive Editor of Out Magazine and the entire audience exploded in applause and love for her accomplishments as her mother beamed in the very front row.

If you come to AFROPUNK, you already know Black joy is political and important. But at a time when our president disrespects our communities on the regular and we’re not safe on our streets or even in our own homes, these conversations matter more now than ever. Ready to keep these conversations going?

Subscribe to AFROPUNK Solution Sessions, AFROPUNK‘s award-winning podcast. Our second season drops October 30th.