I waited a while to do this drawing, because I was hoping I’d find the email address of the man in the picture. This guy came to the 1001 Black Men panel discussion at CIIS (in September of 2013). He had really nice things to say about my drawings, and I’ve never forgotten him, mostly for the way his compliments put me at ease prior to the panel discussion event.
Ajuan Mance
Back in January, we spent about nine days in Kauai. It was a lot of fun, but there sure weren’t many Black people. I think there were more Black people in our vacation rental than in the whole rest of the town. (Out of the six people in the vacation rental, three of us were Black.) Most of the Black folks we saw were in the airport. This is one of the brothers we ran into outside of the airport, at a grocery store in the next town over.
Ajuan Mance
Waiting for service at Broadway VW, Oakland, CA.
Ajuan Mance
Spotted in line at the Broadway Volkswagen service desk.
Ajuan Mance
Peet’s Coffee and Tea, Temescal neighborhood, Oakland.
Ajuan Mance
This is one of the kind employees behind the service counter at Broadway Volkswagen. No matter how irritated and impatient the customer, he was able to maintain the placid expression you see in this drawing. There aren’t many people who could keep their cool the way he did. Watching him interact with each person in line was like watching a master at work.
Ajuan Mance
I love going to the Peet’s Coffee & Tea in the Temescal district of Oakland. It’s tucked into a busy-but-unassuming strip mall right off Telegraph, and it’s conveniently located between a great Italian deli and a well-stocked cheese store (just across the street). That makes it the perfect stop during specialty food shopping trips.
The Temescal Peet’s also features one of the most diverse groups of regular customers of any cafe in the area. In addition to African American, white, Asian American, Native American, and Latino customers, there are a critical mass of regulars who represent those parts of the African diaspora that do not have their roots in the Middle Passage.
The Temescal Peet’s has become a gathering place for folks from Ethiopia and Eritrea, and whenever I’m there I get a little bit of a kick out of being in a place where so many ways of being Black are on display.
Ajuan Mance
Here’s another portrait from Broadway Volkwagen.
Ajuan Mance
Here’s another portrait from Broadway Volkswagen. You may wonder how I had the time to do preliminary sketches of so many men during one trip to the mechanic. Well, on weekday mornings, Broadway Volkswagen is kind of a zoo. On this, my most recent trip there, there were at least 12 people waiting just to drop off their keys, and the process was happening none too quickly. I’m not sure how the guys at the counter stayed so friendly. There were so many customers, and few of them seemed to be in a good mood. I was in a great mood, because I was getting so many drawings done.
Ajuan Mance
Broadway Volkswagen, Oakland CA.
Ajuan Mance