By Sharon Adarlo One day in September, a woman dressed in a nondescript outfit walked out of Yaya Tea in Downtown Newark carrying two icy cold tumblers of bubble milk tea and seaweed-wrapped rice balls. With her college-aged daughter’s help, she unwrapped the plastic film around the rice ball and then proceeded to eat everything inside but the seaweed. Cooked rice bits were all over … Continue reading Yaya Tea
The 2014 autobiography of Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton is an engrossing journey through music history with plenty of tales of sex and a lot of drugs. The hilariously titled Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You? also gives us an interesting view of Newark history from the 1950s-1970s (he also lived in Plainfield and Detroit). Here are some major passages … Continue reading Dr. Funkenstein’s Newark
For years, Newark based DJ and producer Uniiqu3 has drawn national attention to Jersey Club music with regular features in major music publications such a Vice, Billboard, DJ Mag and Complex. She’s also played some of the biggest music festivals in the country, including Afropunk, Coachella and SXSW. Most recently, she was profiled by PBS in a short documentary on the origins, rise to prominence, … Continue reading Mixology: Uniiqu3
By Nakeefa Garay Ten years ago, if you told me I would call Newark home, I would have laughed in your face and made some nonspecific elitist remark about why that could never be. It’s not that my idea of home had a particular shape of what it had to look like. Rather, I knew what it could never be, and it was never going … Continue reading Finding hoME
By Keishla Rivera-Lopez This is the placewhere I learned my placein the family. I was meantto be here. To cook. Toclean. To serve. To dofor others first, and myselfsecond. This is the placeI’d watchmami with furrowed brows,a red face, and frizzy hair workher magic. With her hands sheailed sickness, fed us nutritionand life. Her hands held mine andtaught me what they knew whenshe was a … Continue reading “Ode to Mami’s Kitchen”
Usually when a beloved business closes, there is some celebration or recognition of the services it provided to the community. The COVID-19 crisis prevented this from happening for so many, these small toasts are our humble attempt at a proper send-off. Each pillow-stuffed empanada came with a unique die-stamped letter combination and was handmade by the Argentine owner and her mother in the back of … Continue reading Thank You For Your Service
By Brianne Ford I used to walk past Sassy’s criba couple times a week, when young And each time say, “That’sWhere Sarah Vaughn lives.” That was when Symphony Sidused to call her, “The Divine One,”Late nights, from hip Bird Land Oh man, what a feeling that wasDivine & so hip & so verybeautiful. The house is gone nowSymphony Sid too As for the town, nowSassy … Continue reading Searching for Sarah Vaughan
