I ran into this sharply dressed gentleman and his son outside SoleSpace, on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland. I was waiting to deliver some art, just prior to the start of my June art show there. This gentleman was from San Francisco, and his son was visiting from Brooklyn (or was it vice versa). In any event, I did portraits of the both of them, and I’ll post my drawing of his son as soon as its done.
Ajuan Mance
Another brotha in redwood country. Even more peculiar than seeing Black people in Garberville, California was running into this brother in Willits, a few miles south. He was filling his car near us at the Safeway filling station. He was dressed in the knit cap, hoodie, and jeans so common to young men in the area. The only difference between his look and theirs was his Blackness; and in that part of California, it really made him stand out.
Ajuan Mance
Downtown Oakland, near De Lauer’s News Stand.
Ajuan Mance
This guy’s look was all his own. With his graying beard and pigtails, a stocking cap, and a sweatshirt with cutoff sleeves, he stood out among the moms and their children, the Fremont High School kids, and the elderly women waiting to cross at the corner of of High Street and Foothill.
Ajuan Mance
When I see an older brother in a fly suit–especially an older Oakland brother–I have no choice but to commemorate his retro sense of style in the form of a portrait.
Ajuan Mance
Another well-dressed Black gentleman from the City of Brooklyn. I absolutely loved his sweater. Don’t you?
Ajuan Mance
Another Garberville portrait, July 2015.
Garberville is located in Humbolt County in the heart of the farm belt for California’s major cash crop. I’ll let you guess what it is (and it ain’t cotton).
Ajuan Mance
Garberville, California, July 2015.
Ajuan Mance
Black men turn up in the most interesting locations. Four hours north of Oakland, in Humboldt County, Garberville is the last place anyone would expect to see a person of African descent. And yet, while I was there, I crossed paths with several Black men. Perhaps they were pursuing careers in the production and distribution of the local cash crop.
Ajuan Mance
