Three friends, outside La Farine bakery, Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #775
Passing by the window of Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA
Why draw this brotha? It’s always interesting to see someone in real life who has the kind of body you usually only see on televised sports.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #774
Waiting in line at the bank, across the street from Peet’s on Fruitvale.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #773
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA.
Why draw this brotha? Because it was one of the hottest days of the year, and his unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt with a t-shirt underneath reminded me of the elderly Black men I used to see during childhood visits to Darlington, South Carolina. My grandmother lived on the Black side of town where, for many folks, the only way to get a little relief from the heat was to sit out on the front porch. These were men for whom proper dress and comportment was more important than comfort–and a gentleman always wore a t-shirt under his shirt, no matter what the weather.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #772
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA.
Why draw this brotha? That fly purple shirt with that super fly polka dot tie.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #771
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Fruitvale, Ave., Oakland, CA.
Why draw this brotha? Because he seemed so young to look so tired.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #770
Waiting in line at Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #769
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Fruitvale, Ave., Oakland, CA.
Why draw this brother? Because his haircut reminded me of Dr. Jackson, a science instructor at my high school and the only African American person on the entire faculty. At that time, my hair was straightened to within inches of its life, but I admired Dr. Jackson’s afro. At a school in at African Americans made up of only one percent of the student body, his sculpted coif felt outrageous, audacious, and unapologetic, and I loved it!
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #768
I’m baaaaack.
It’s been an eventful last three weeks or so, and I haven’t had much time to add new posts. Even so, I’ve continued to create new drawings, and I have a bunch of new pieces to share.
Most of these new drawings were done while I was sitting by the window at Peet’s Coffee and Tea, on Fruitvale Avenue. Even though it’s been open for quite some time, I only started going there a couple months ago.
The staff is quite friendly, and the location is convenient to the local grocery store. My favorite place to sit is at the bar along the side window. It’s a great place for people watching, which also means it’s a perfect location for making drawings for this website. The crowd along this stretch of Fruitvale is wonderfully diverse. The brothers in and around this establishment are a true cross-section of Oakland men of African descent, from suits to saggers and beyond; and at a time when I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with stories of Black lives ended prematurely, I take great pleasure and hope from the sheer number and diversity of Black men I see going about their business in and outside of this coffee shop.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #767: The Brothers of Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con 2014.
Do notice that I redesigned the lanyard on this figure, using a lovely yellow-green with purple stars. Perhaps Comic-Con will invite me to design their real lanyards for future conferences (but probably not).
Also, do note my attempt to create a quirky Comic-Con background (for this and several previous drawings), using silhouettes decked out in my version of cosplay outfits. They’re harder to see at this small size, but check out some of my previous SDCC 2014 drawings for a better look at the background details.
Ajuan Mance