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juma

@fruitofthejoom

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Reflections, from Kenya and Keem. by @fruitofthejoom

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4 days ago

by @fruitofthejoom

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a month ago

I reckon there’s nothing like the 8 Seconds Rodeo anywhere in this country. Every Juneteenth, what feels like thousands of Black folks gather in the Memorial Coliseum for a revelrous marriage of sport and theater.

The jubilee is fitting for a day we celebrate freedom, and there’s something spiritual about our mass migration on this land in Portland. In the 1960s, hundreds of Black families were cleared from Lower Albina to develop the Coliseum site. That’s why convening again is collective reverence, an embodied reclamation of place.

As someone with modest generational ties to America, I appreciate participating as an act of solidarity for those forced to move. by @fruitofthejoom

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3 months ago

Today marks sixty-five years of Sierra Leonean independence. Just ahead of this anniversary, our community achieved another national milestone:

Muyu Journal is the first arts and culture magazine in Sierra Leone’s history. Directed by @kanuvisuals and published earlier this month, the print is a remarkable capsule of visual and written art.

Muyu embodies the beauty of our Home on the edge of Africa, and immortalizes an archive like Salone has never had. It’s hard to overstate the importance of this print for a people who most often document our history through oral tradition.

I’m grateful for the creative vision, leadership, and how this publication has deepened my own reverence for our diaspora.

I’m also grateful to share this moment with my mother @mimiswritelife. Her poem, ”Wailing at the Baobab,” is a reflection on how community memory travels overseas. It appears about halfway through the collection.

My photos appear near the end. They were taken during my last trip Home and I call them self-portraits, even though I’m pictured in none.

Growing up away from Home, I’ve had to understand that my heritage extends beyond blood. That’s why I cherish my days in Freetown when they come. Nowhere else do I see myself so fully. by @fruitofthejoom

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6 months ago

trying hard by @fruitofthejoom

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6 months ago

I have never enjoyed Halloween so much! by @fruitofthejoom

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a year ago

i went on a long bike ride the other day to raise awareness for multiple sclerosis. my mom was diagnosed in 2006.

ms is an intimate disease—your immune system attacks itself, rupturing the myelin sheath that protects the nerves in your brain and spine.

there is so much to say about the weight of ms, but no one can speak to this better than my mother. she carries her disease with incomparable grace 🧡

and shares more about her experience @mimiswritelife by @fruitofthejoom

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a year ago

In 1975 Bobbie and Bernie Foster created The Skanner, a pioneering weekly print for Black folks in the Northwest. Their paper has kept us informed, amplifying stories for and by our people.

The Skanner celebrated 50 years this April and these photos are from that celebration. They’re on display @albinavisiontrust.

Portland friends, AVT is hosting a housewarming for their brick and mortar tomorrow evening. Come by 🤲🏿

RSVP link in bio 🖇️ by @fruitofthejoom

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a year ago

pick-a-jum, from around new york by @fruitofthejoom

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a year ago

i took these portraits of Mz Arietta Ward and Nafisaria Mathews after a long conversation about their mother, the late Janice Scroggins. the last slide is a photo of their family in 1987. unpictured is their younger brother, Francis Scroggins-Ocansey, who was born in 1999.

folk call Ms. Janice the master of blues, gospel and jazz in portland. she was a pianist, educator and—from what her daughters tell me—a loving matriarch, determined to leave a legacy for her children and theirs.

Ms. Janice bought the home you see in these pictures in 1989 and willed it to her kids when she passed—it’s just a couple blocks from unthank park.

Nafisaria and her family live there now. she says the property has grounded them in the neighborhood. but most of the families on their block growing up have moved out. we talked about what that means. and what gives them hope for the future.

keep an eye on your feeds next week. i’ll be sharing more as part of a larger series with @albinamusictrust and @1803fund. by @fruitofthejoom

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a year ago

happy birthday niah ✨ thank you for making us whole twenty years ago 🤲🏿 and for all the love, wisdom and attitude that has kept us in check since 🫡 by @fruitofthejoom

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a year ago

the boogie cat

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i took these portraits of Mr. Norman Sylvester after a sweet conversation about portland and permanence.

he told me that he was born to play music, documenting our community’s stories through the blues.

i’m not a musician myself, but i fall into the same storytelling tradition. and it means a lot to have elders who set the standard.

if you wanna hear more of our conversation, visit @albinamusictrust. we’re spotlighting legends from our community, all month long. by @fruitofthejoom

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a year ago