New York Magazine - USA (2020-02-17)

48 newyork| february17–march1, 2020

PHOTOGRAPHS: JANELE HENDERSON (INTERIOR); COURTESY OF BLK MKT VINTAGE (REMAINING)

opening: blk mkt Tembe Denton-HurstBy

Highlights From a Recent Visit

to get to see what was happening in

the Oakland or the Chicago

chapter— whatever demonstration

was happening for bail fund-

raising or for legal fees. This was

their community newspaper, so

you get it all. We have a few that are

signed by Emory Douglas, who was

theministerof culturefortheBlack

PantherParty.”k. s.^7 “New Yorkers

Unite!” poster, $500: “This poster

is stunning. And it’s an original,

from the ’60s. I love how it man-

ages to invoke all of these different

histories, which still exist for New

Yorkers today: food insecurity, gen-

trification,andaccesstoaffordable

publictransportation.”j.h.^8 Ernie

BarnesComeSundayprint,$400:

“Thisis fromthe’70s;it’s anorigi-

nallithographinitsoriginalframe.

It ’s a specialpiecebecauseErnieis

oneofthoseartists youcanfindin

somanyblackhomes.Evenif peo-

pledon’t knowexactlywhat it is or

whoit’ s by, youcantellthey recog-

nizeit whentheyseeit—it looks

familiarbecauseit’ s soquintessen-

tiallyblackand sucha staple of

blackinteriorspaces.”k. s.^9 Fulani

wedding blankets, $300: “They’re

made by the Fulani people in Mali

out of strips of woven fabric dyed

with vegetable pigments.” k.s. “They

are traditionally the first gift that a

bride and groom receive—their

first piece of jointly owned prop-

erty. They’re very ornate and can be

used as a rug, thrown over beds,

put on the walls.” j.h.

Ofth s, 75 percentarefemaleidentified; 25 percent are male identified. “Black women

haveheldu fromthevery beginning,” says Stewart. / The 900-square-foot space

wasfirsta g store, thena dry cleaner. / The owners grew up 600 feet from each other

inProspect– tsGardens,whichthey didn’t realize until they met as adults. / The rarest item

they’vefoundwas a firsteditionofTheir Eyes Were Watching God. They sold it for $7,000.

BlkMkt

bythe

Numbers

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(^1) Jet magazines, from $25: “ We
have a couple hundred issues in the
store. Folks grew up with Jet in
their household—reading them or
just seeing them on their coffee
tables or in their bathrooms.”
kiyannastewart^2 Assata Shakur
pin, $75: “This is an original pin
from the 1970s that depicts a for-
mer member of the Black Libera-
tion Army. It’s rare to come across
original pieces with Shakur on
them,sowheneverwedofindone,
wesnatchit rightup.”k. s.^3 Angela
Davis pin, $35: “They’re the same
ones that folks would get when
they made a contribution to her
bail fund or sent her a letter—
they’d either get a pin or a sticker
back that said i gave to free
angela or free angela on it. The
AngelaDavisephemera goesreally
fast.”jannahhandy^4 TheLifeand
Works of Paul LaurenceDunbar,
$225: “This is a first edition,pub-
lished in 1907. It has an incredible
heft and is so well constructed.
I loveDunbar;oneofhis actsof
resistancewaswritingwhitepro-
tagonists. At the time, people
thought that was uppity—how
coulda blackpersonwriteabouta
whiteperson’s story?”j.h.^5 Hot
comb,from$25:“A lotoffolksgri-
macewhentheyseethese,butina
funway, I guess.Mosteveryone
whocomesin—olderadults,kids—
canconnectaboutgettingburned
ontheirears.”j.h.^6 BlackPanther
newspapers,from$65:“It’s socool

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