This guy was waiting beside me at the rental counter in the High Street Home Depot. He was renting some sort of tree stump crushing equipment. I was looking to rent a motorized sewer snake … until the very nice elderly man behind the counter explained that the machine I needed would never fit into the trunk of my car.
Ajuan Mance
Ever since I completed my Black Santa ‘zine, I’ve been hyper aware of those older brothers who have Black Santa potential. This man was shopping at the Berkeley Bowl on one of those warm pre-Christmas shopping days that blew through the Bay Area last week. He was wearing a dark v-neck T-shirt that showed off his impressively muscular upper-body. If Black Santa was a body builder, he’d probably look like this guy.
Ajuan Mance
Before there was Megyn Kelly’s declaration that Santa and Jesus are both white, there was A Blues for Black Santa.
No, seriously.
Imagine my surprise when, less than a week after I debuted this ‘zine (at the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest, the Megyn Kelly white Santa story hit the news. I cannot say that my piece is a response to the rantings of this Fox News reporter, but I have enjoyed its unexpected timeliness.
A Blues for Black Santa is a humorous appeal for recognition from Black Santa himself, told in rhyme.
To read the whole A Blues for Black Santa ‘zine, follow THIS LINK.
To buy the ‘zine, go to my ETSY store. The centerfold of the paper version is a full-color 11″ x 17″ Black Santa fashion poster.
One more thing: If you want to leave Black Santa a snack, he’s willing to accept cookies and milk, but what he really would love is a nice big slice of pound cake and a tall, cold glass of sweet tea.
Ajuan Mance
I was going through my summer sketchbooks to make sure I hadn’t overlooked any drawings, and I came across this picture. I did this one during the mandatory information session for float monitors at San Francisco Pride. The man in this drawing was one of literally hundreds of attendees who showed up for the training and information session held at the Bench and Bar in downtown Oakland.
Ajuan Mance
Kinko’s, Emeryville, CA.
Ajuan Mance
Starbucks at Palma Plaza, San Leandro, CA.
Ajuan Mance
To share in a loving community
and vision that magnifies our strength and banishes
fear and despair, here, we find the solid ground
from which justice can flow like a mighty stream.–Victor Lewis
The Starbucks in San Leandro’s Palma Plaza has become a community gathering place for a portion of that city’s Ethiopian men. My ancestors hail from a very different part of the African continent than these gentlemen, but I am always happy to see Black folks enjoying each other’s company. For most of our 500-year sojourn in the Americas, loving, life-affirming community has been our greatest source of strength.
Ajuan Mance
MacArthur Blvd., near Poppy’s Bubble Wash, Oakland, CA.
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I took some artistic license with this one. Rather than depict him in the white t-shirt he was sort of wearing (in that way that some young brothas do, with one arm pushed through one of the arm holes, and the other side of the shirt pushed up around his shoulder), I just removed his shirt entirely. This enabled me simplify the color palate and emphasize the contrast between the smooth areas of color and the textured ones.
Ajuan Mance
CVS, Fruitvale Ave, Oakland, CA.
Ajuan Mance
This drawing is a composite of the four older Black men sitting near me at Peet’s Emeryville, about a week ago this afternoon.
Ajuan Mance