Celebrating Global Blackness, Thanks Beyonce!

Unless you were under a rock on Saturday you were fortunate to have viewed Beyonce’s newest video Formation which celebrates all things black including her love for hot sauce and a simple request to “stop shooting us.” As if dropping this video in the middle of a Saturday wasn’t enough, she gave us 24 hours to learn the words for her Super Bowl performance that doubled as a 50th anniversary party for the formation of the Black Panther Party. Her afro and black baret clad dancers were the perfect accessory for the Black Panther Party Party.

Beyonce celebrating blackness has me prancing around in my dark skin and thinking about how amazing black people are worldwide. I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of beautiful black people from my travels, so here we go!

Benin

Towards the end of 2010 I moved to Dassa-Zoume, Benin to work as a project manager for an Italian NGO.

This gorgeous little girl was so full of joy. I met her at an orphanage in Abomey.

The community of Ganvie is considered the Venice of Africa. They entire village is on stilts and people in the village move around on boats. Here is one of the residents.

This cute little boy was a beneficiary of our NGO.

Colombia

In October 2015 I traveled to the little known Colombian island of San Andres which sits off the coast of Nicaragua. The island is full of beautiful Afro-Colombians.

Ethiopia

Last year I went to Ethiopia on assignment for USAID and captured lovely images of a farming community near Debra Brahan.

This woman is one of many who have had their property rights strengthened by the Ethiopian government.

This woman proudly shows her land rights certificate.

I was struck by his eyes and had to capture him.

A young farmer we met who was harvesting barley.

Haiti

I went to Haiti for the first time in April 2015. This artist, Jamson, serenaded us with the song African Queen on the beach.

Senegal

As part of my celebration of my 30th birthday I visited Senegal and fell in love with the country and its people.

Uganda

In 2013 I headed to Gulu in northern Uganda and captured a few images of some of the people in the community. This is one of my favorites.

United States

This picture was taken in Washington DC in 2015 during one of many protests held as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.