So yesterday was a fun experience…
DISCLAIMER: IF YOU AREN’T BLACK YOU MIGHT MISS SOME REFERENCES….
I attended South N The City, an event described by the creator as, “Curating the southern cultural and HBCU social experience in big cities.” It was held in New York City on Governers Island.
MANY Kudos for that, not many people are able to hold events at a venue like Governor’s Island, so you gotta give props where it’s due. The island is accessible via ferry only (possibly helicopter but I don’t know how deep your pockets run) from Manhattan and Brooklyn. Governors is a pretty big island so they had the event in a smaller section of grass, sectioned off from the buildings, parks and constant foot traffic.
The event’s concept is centralized around a picnic theme where patrons picnic on a lawn in front of a stage and are surrounded by other picnickers and vendors. (Kinda how they do in the South), Music, fashion and black culture is really what the event is about.
I definitely felt the unity of people at the event although everyone was on their own blankets and what not. When certain songs came on, everyone seemed to be on one vibe and that’s super important when throwing events like this. It wasn’t a party but it wasn’t a kickback either but somehow held the aura of both.
I didn’t attend a HBCU and they had me feeling like I use to stroll at Spelman.
The DJ did a good job at in incorporating all kinds of black music into his set and then turning the southern music switch on closer to the end. Ironically, I enjoyed it all and found myself questioning my Trini-ness as I recited lyrics after lyrics shoulder leanin’.
Dress code was southern gents and belle summer chic so I wore….
Fashion and style were on full display and I think the blackness of the event made it so much sweeter. There were no fights, incidents or any commotion that I could notice. Some picnickers were laid out just enjoying the vibe, others were up dancing, some at the vendors and others networking. Photographers and videographers grazed the field and people posed left and right for photos with their picnic baskets, straw brim hats and oversized sunglasses effortlessly. The only complaint I heard was the food vendor was a little bit slow and that they didn’t have a big selection of food for people that did not eat meat which happened to be me yesterday . I’m on a new life path to eat healthier and cut animal flesh out of my diet so when my boyfriend brought me over a plate of mac & cheese, barbecue chicken and coleslaw I didn’t know what to do.
I ate the coleslaw though…..
I took a quick stroll over to the vendors which hosted black entrepreneurs that were selling clothes, wigs, sunglasses and more. I stopped at tnemnroda’s table which housed a variety of handmade embellished sunglasses.
Her designs start at $40 and really have a nice edgy but fashionista sense to them.
Find her on INSTAGRAM @tnemnroda
Another vendor I want to mention is Eden Body Works . I got a goodie bag with a variety of her hair hair products and so conveniently was today, wash day. After cutting at least 3 inches of my hair off in April I’ve been wearing a lot of ponytail pieces to compensate for the length missing. With that, comes a lot of gel and edge control and I’m not a big user of either. My haircare has been a little bit off lately since I can just pop on my ponytail and since this summer humidity and shrinkage is on fleek.
I used Eden bodyworks “Coconut Shea Cleansing CoWash, JojOba Monoi Deep Conditioner & Coconut Shea Leave In Conditioner” and I really do love it. The results the products gave me was very similar to OGX’s coconut curls and for my 3c/4a hairtype, healthy curls are important. I don’t wanna get toooooo carried away with the Black girl natural hair talk but BIG UP TO EDEN BODY WORKS. Her products are at retailers in the US, cheaper than most black owned or natural hair products so when these samples run out, I’ll be skipping over to pick me up some.
Visit the website https://edenbodyworks.com/
All and all, next year I’m definitely attending. This time with a group of friends, a basket, a cute blanket and some extra cute accessories I can buy from Five Below. South N The City, you got something here!!!!
– Choonks ❤️