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Phillip Loken

@studiophill_

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followers

2637

following

A New Afrikan In America (NC)
Cultural Worker & Image Maker
@blackmenbuildnc
[@geesbendwtth Donation Link In Bio]

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

So many things went better than good on this trip. The @geesbendwtth team had an amazing time at this year’s #AiringOfTheQuilts festival in #GeesBend (@visitgeesbend)!
I absolutely want to thank the ancestors first for lookin’ out for us, laying the ground work in their lifetimes to make our work that much more possible, and just bein’ some down ass Afrikans and New Afrikans dedicated to the liberation of our people.
Martha Jane Pettway, Rubin Bendolph Jr., Aunt Deborah, Fannie Lou Hamer, Cudjo Lewis, Omowale El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), Estelle Witherspoon, Marcus Garvey; just to name a few.
We’ve got a fuller recap on the way for our @geesbendwtth page, but I just wanted to share a little myself of our experience.
Thank you to everyone we connected with out there. I wish we took more pictures together lol !
So proud of the team too!! Shoutout to @xsaviorism, @c_jefferson_, @julian_argo, and @afro_daakye for holdin it down on this trip and throughout the whole project. Shoutout @byarielbrown & @auntyenii_ who couldn’t make it, but are ESSENTIAL to this project as well!
Huge shoutout to the organizers of this year’s festival @fqb.legacy and @sewgeesbend_heritagebuilders; amazing job!
Images 1, 5, and 7 courtesy of the highly skilled elder @gusbennettphoto; appreciate you dearly brotha!
#GeesBendWTTH taken in Gee's Bend, Alabama by @studiophill_

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14 days ago

My first solo exhibition, The Calling: Hoodoo’s Communion with the Ancestors, closed January 2nd, but my heart is still so full from the entire experience!
I have endless gratitude for everyone who could and couldn’t make it out to see the exhibition and participate in the programming. The exhibition was a definite success. Most importantly, I honored my own and our collective ancestors properly. Knowing that and sharing additional knowledge around the ways we can achieve our liberation means the world to me.
If you missed the exhibition, visit my website to see images from the installation.

The discussion between myself, @DeltaArtsCenter’s Program Director and Curator @Capital_Teej, and Public Historian Damarius Johnson will be viewable online soon; look out for that!

You can also purchase the replay of the discussion between one of the @TwinHoodooMuthas @JeidaKStorey and me, hosted by @Ancestral_Voices at the link in my bio.

I’m so pleased with how everything went. I’ve got a couple of inquiries I’ll be following up on soon about taking this exhibition to other spaces, so keep your eyes open for that update when details get solidified.

Special thank you to EVERYONE who had a hand in making this happen. It is NEVER just me.. my ancestors move with me, my comrades, my family, my close friends, my collaborators, my community.. I love and appreciate you all. The list is too long to drop everybody’s name, but thank you all so much.

While my solo was on view, I offered some 8.5 x 11 inch prints of Guidance and Preparation exclusively at Delta Arts Center. Now I’ve chosen to make this 21 print run available online!
Each archival pigment print is $200 (including tax and shipping) and comes signed and numbered with a certificate of authenticity.
Hit the link in my bio to purchase.

Photo credit:
1, 7 - 17, 19: @byellejoseph
6,8: @shotbynori taken in Delta Arts Center by @studiophill_

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8 months ago

Introducing Gee’s Bend: Welcome To The Hole, a stunning documentary that offers an insider’s look at the soul of a rural Black community in Alabama—most known for its legacy of quilting, resistance, and cultural brilliance.⁠
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🎬 From Director/Producer Phillip Loken:⁠
⁠
"Hello everyone, my name is Phillip Loken, Director and Producer of Gee's Bend: Welcome To The Hole, a documentary film giving an insider’s perspective on the nuances that have shaped a rural Black community in Alabama, most known for its rich, intergenerational legacy of quilting.⁠
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This film matters to me because Black people have historically not been at the forefront of telling our own stories, and this film is the antithesis of that statement with a Gee's Bend descendant, X aka Brian Xsavior Pettway, as the Executive Producer."⁠

Gee's Bend Welcome To The Hole Official Instagram Page: @GeesBendWTTH
Phillip Loken (Director, Producer, Co-Director of Photography): @StudioPhill_
X The Artist, Brian Xsavior Pettway (Martha Jane Pettway's Great Grandson, Executive Producer, & Protagonist): @X_TheArtist
Courtney Jefferson (Co-Director of Photography): @C_Jefferson_
Ariel "birdfoot" Brown (Editor, Colorist, & Sound Mixer): @byarielbrown
Kwaku Osei (Drone Pilot & BTS Photographer): @afro_daakye
Omo Pastor (BTS Photographer): @omopastorr
Julian Argo (BTS Videographer): @Julian_Argo
⁠
#GeesBend #SouthernDocumentaryFund #BlackDocumentary #BlackSouthernLife #QuiltingLegacy #IndependentFilm by @studiophill_

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a year ago

Let’s get it! Raleigh Men’s Circle is back at @ser_ymca Oct. 21! Come as your are, grow as you leave!

Tag someone that needs to know about this!

#Menscircle #blackmenbuild #raleigh #durham by @studiophill_

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4 days ago

Secular Black folk don't mind dabbling as it seems 'a bit of fun', even though its origins are in 'remembering the departed'....All Souls Eve....basically, remembering Ancestors.

Christian Black folk also make time to honour their saints and prophets....also people who were some-one's Ancestors.

Muslim Black folk likewise have days of honouring 'holy men' and prophet (PBUH), who are also other folks' Ancestors.

So why so little time and interest to also learn more about hpw to honour those in our shared heritage that jave sacrificed so much for us to be here?

Will you make time this month to honour another African sacred expressions....to learn more about your own Ancestors and their contribution to humanity's progress? Because October is also HOODOO month, incase you didn't know?

LINK IN BIO by @studiophill_

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4 days ago

Currently Untitled Works (Opening Day of “Freedom Books: A Legacy of Resistance” at N.C. State Gregg Museum, curated by Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway @adillahunt_)
Digital Photographs, 2026
© 2026 Phillip Loken/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio/Website: https://PLStudio.xyz
All Inquiries: PL@PLStudio.xyz

Freedom Books, founded by Ajamu and Rukiya Dillahunt in 1984, was Raleigh, N.C.’s first Black/New Afrikan Bookstore. “…the bookstore became the launching point for the 1989 boycott of Crabtree Valley Mall by Black youth in Southeast Raleigh.”

“For its ten years of existence, Freedom Books held forums on the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, served as a meeting place for city workers fighting for better pay and work conditions, became a hub for youth organizing and leadership, led a city-wide boycott of Raleigh’s primer shopping mall, hosted trade unionist from different countries, and served as a hub for Black Workers for Justice and its activists. Simply put, Freedom Books sold books about the Black liberation movement, communism. socialism, Africa, Latin and Central America, the Caribbean, and women’s history, while also positioning itself to play an active role in the local movement for Black liberation, workers power, and anti-imperialist politics.”

Shoutout to the brotha comrade @adillahunt_ for having me to be apart of this moment of New Afrikan/Black history & culture; New Afrikan/Black Raleigh culture.
I appreciated the opportunity brotha. Moments like this are fasho what I do it for. Honoring our rich legacies of resistance, while showing strategies & ideas to adapt to current times.
Thank you to the elders for continuing the struggle & embedding in us the importance of clear & specific politics.
Shoutout to everyone from the panel too (Ta-Letta Bryant, Niasha Fray and Morris “Duke” Freeman Sr.)! And now, July 8th is officially Freedom Books Day in Raleigh & Wake County; fire.

“Freedom Books: A Legacy of Resistance” is a part of @ncstategreggmuseum’s “Community Stories: Sustaining North Carolina Black Heritage” series & is open now through February 2027.

#blackphotographer #fineartphotographers #philliploken #blackartspace taken in Gregg Museum of Art & Design at NC State by @studiophill_

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5 days ago

Currently Untitled Works (Opening Day of “Freedom Books: A Legacy of Resistance” at N.C. State Gregg Museum, curated by Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway @adillahunt_)
Digital Photographs, 2026
© 2026 Phillip Loken/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio/Website: https://PLStudio.xyz
All Inquiries: PL@PLStudio.xyz

Freedom Books, founded by Ajamu and Rukiya Dillahunt in 1984, was Raleigh, N.C.’s first Black/New Afrikan Bookstore. “…the bookstore became the launching point for the 1989 boycott of Crabtree Valley Mall by Black youth in Southeast Raleigh.”

“For its ten years of existence, Freedom Books held forums on the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, served as a meeting place for city workers fighting for better pay and work conditions, became a hub for youth organizing and leadership, led a city-wide boycott of Raleigh’s primer shopping mall, hosted trade unionist from different countries, and served as a hub for Black Workers for Justice and its activists. Simply put, Freedom Books sold books about the Black liberation movement, communism. socialism, Africa, Latin and Central America, the Caribbean, and women’s history, while also positioning itself to play an active role in the local movement for Black liberation, workers power, and anti-imperialist politics.”

Shoutout to the brotha comrade @adillahunt_ for having me to be apart of this moment of New Afrikan/Black history & culture; New Afrikan/Black Raleigh culture.
I appreciated the opportunity brotha. Moments like this are fasho what I do it for. Honoring our rich legacies of resistance, while showing strategies & ideas to adapt to current times.
Thank you to the elders for continuing the struggle & embedding in us the importance of clear & specific politics.
Shoutout to everyone from the panel too (Ta-Letta Bryant, Niasha Fray and Morris “Duke” Freeman Sr.)! And now, July 8th is officially Freedom Books Day in Raleigh & Wake County; fire.

“Freedom Books: A Legacy of Resistance” is a part of @ncstategreggmuseum’s “Community Stories: Sustaining North Carolina Black Heritage” series & is open now through February 2027.

#blackphotographer #fineartphotographers #philliploken #blackartspace taken in Gregg Museum of Art & Design at NC State by @studiophill_

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5 days ago

Calling all brothers to @shrineoftheblackstar for a special Sunday Men’s Circle aka “Sunday Circle”. Come as you are, grow as we go.

⏰ 4:00pm-6:30pm
📍Durham, NC by @studiophill_

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10 days ago

Sunday Sept 27th // REAL Talk at @shrineoftheblackstar with @bookerbbbrown //

Clear: Cultural Work is a part of my work. There are ways life shows us new versions of ourselves and I have to say, organizing with the brothas of BMB on the cusp of becoming a parent was a major evolution for me. Inside and outside. I’m most grateful for the community we’ve built here, the cultural workers and artists and, wild enough, how many present black fathers I’ve met and get the opportunity to walk alongside. This opportunity to chop it up with brotha Mark Anthony Neal confirmed I’m right where I need to be on this journey. Thank you.

Thank you to @bbennettweston for hearing that podcast in May and sayin, “BMB should connect with MAN. Sounds like yall are doing similar things!” It was at that meeting that he gave us the early copy of his upcoming book. And here we are!

Big shoutouts to @djuan____ for seeing the need to give brotha MAN his flowers and celebrate his new book, Save a Seat for Me: Notes on American Fatherhood here in Durham. Righteous work. Thank you to @diaslight333 for the glorious works being made in the space and for all of the pre, day of, and post-event work to make the space what it needed to be to hold the people.

To @shambomedina , thank you for answering the call to lead us in ritual to bring in the names of the fathers and parents we have lost. It’s not a small thing to commemorate our people and you did so beautifully. Thanks brotha.

Brotha comrade @studiophill_ pulled up and gathered some images for us, honored all requests and made sure we were good with where we landed. That’s the work.

Cultural workers are needed now more than ever. What’s happening in Durham is special. What’s happening now is necessary for us to be building a bigger Blacker future.

Thank y’all for all the support and love shown, peace to @blackmenbuildnc and all other friends and comrades who pulled up, gave feedback and notes for making the next ones even better. Catch the next one with Elder Eddie Swan in the coming weeks! by @studiophill_

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12 days ago

Informed organized Black men are a powerful force. Make a plan, bring a friend, because your voice counts. 9️⃣

#Durham #Raleigh #chapelhill #greensboro #charlotte by @studiophill_

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12 days ago

A sneak peek of what October will bring - its now LIVE and taking early-bird tickets, so don't miss out!

"HOODOO IS US" - Jeida K Storey (Hoodoo Mutha & Coach)

"Hoodoo is the latest expression of African sacrality to captivate the world’s attention and focus, yet little is referenced of it in comparison to its Diasporan cousins such as Brazilian Candomble, Cuban Lukumi or even Haitian Vodou.

It does not also seemingly appear to be as organised in a Cosmological framework as others, yet is a recognised phenomena, noted as far back as early accounts of enslaved Africans being trafficked to America often under the synonym of ‘rootwork’. Yet even without that matrix, it has continued in various guises across the United States and what we will be covering on this show is the various forms Hoodoo has taken and influenced all aspects of Black Culture in America; from the Black Church, to liberatory movements, medical knowledge and sciences developed off rootwork, Architecture and other means of socio-cultural production.

We will be uncovering the hidden hand of Hoodoo behind many a ‘Black Cultural expression’ and how it continues to shape consciousness and remembrance of Ancestral modalities; refined to fit our current reality.

Grab an early-bird ticket before sales end...
https://ancestralvoices.co.uk/hidden-hand-of-hoodoo/ by @studiophill_

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18 days ago

Something special is coming to this year’s Airing of the Quilts Festival.

Our team will be there alongside the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy @fqb.legacy, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders @sewgeesbend_heritagebuilders, and many others celebrating the stories, artistry, and legacy that continue to inspire us all.

Check out www.airingofthequilts.org to get your tickets. Join us. You won’t want to miss this one.

We’re extremely close completing this film and we need your help! If you’d like to support this documentary through a tax-deductible donation, visit the link in our bio, or DM this page for more details.
We are also accepting donations via checks and wire transfers; DM or email us at
GeesBendWTTH@Gmail.com if you’d like more details on either donation method.
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#GeesBend #GeesBendWTTH #BlackArtists
#airingofthequilts #FreedomQuiltingBee taken in Gee's Bend, Alabama by @studiophill_

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24 days ago