To kick off Juneteenth 2022, Leeondra Clayton and Dorothy Vaughn invited a small group of friends and family to the opening of their bodega, or The Godega as it's called. The evening was christened with an amazing set of black spirituals and hymns that left not a dry eye in the humble small commercial space. When Clayton walked up at the closing of the ceremony, she turned with watered eyes, thanking her friends and family for supporting her. She thanked the community of Taos for always being a support to her and her business, LeeCooks Church.
The second day of the festival was as flamboyant as it was joyful. The day started as normally as any festival, with a hectic and chaotic setting up of vendors. When the hosts entered the front yard revolt space, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone, that is, but the sky. Clouds began darkening as the sound engineers readied their equipment and monitors. The sky became dark just as models had been made up and dressed in their runway attire, the sky heaved a big sigh and relieved itself upon the masses. It was indeed joyous, even for the small amount of spectators in the folding chairs lining the runway, waiting patiently for the fashion show to kick off.
The show didn't ease into contemporary fashion, it exploded with the work of The House Of Vaughn. Her first design featured color and extravagance as a beautiful plus-size model stomped down the fragile walkway. She dawned a large flowing gown that was blindingly yellow and featured bright yellow feathers as trim that ran across the shoulder and cuff of the garment. Model after model, the house of Vaughn served up what seemed, to this reporter, a human manifestation of the birds of paradise. It was color, it was flamboyant, it was flowing and appealing to the eye.
The Runway then journeyed to Africa for inspiration; Fatimah Lee draped her models in handcrafted long incara-style fabrics and pants. The models floated across the catwalk with a background of light rain and made me feel like I was in the wide open Serengeti or on a boat with my ancestors crossing the Congolese River. The patterns shouted motherland, they screamed tradition, but the models and tailoring announced the entrance of the future of American blackness. The designer's wares were crowned with an appearance from yours truly, who had a wax fabric kimono specially made for the occasion. It featured a teal textile with rose gold highlights and a chiffon half sleeve that left all of my wrist and the lower half of my palm to the imagination. Fatimah's designs were regal and reminded one of the ancient African kingdoms and royalty.
Joshu Tafoya was the next designer. As the emcee, I had no reason to hype or editorialize. His garments spoke for themselves. They were elegant and disturbing, couture and graceful, and almost haunting as the models somberly walked the runway at a very slow pace. Joshua is a Taos-born designer who has a long family history of weaving and traditional textiles. He manages to marry ancient history and the not-so-distant future in his asymmetrical weaving designs, and accessories them with bedazzled ski masks that were draped with long, loose string that swayed in the wind of the stormy surroundings. If you ever have a chance to see Tafoya's designs, this writer would highly encourage you to do so. You will walk away with a shocking satisfaction that you had seen a designer who was going to soar to big heights. Catch him if you can.
Last but not least, the crowd grew into a joyous frenzy as Nate and A.J. Tracks modeled fashions curated at their shop, ArrowSoul Trading Post. The lovely ladies strutted the walkway with an urban swagger, dawning track and sweat suits that were printed with elaborate designs. They crowned the models with custom printed and altered snapback ball caps and handmade jewelry. The crowd was jovial and loud and excited to see these mostly-native models walking the catwalk with confidence and swagger as they showed off the best of Taos’ Bangie local styles, complete with sneakers, large T-shirts and in accompaniment of hip-hop. If the designs of Joshua Tafoya represented Taos’ potent past, the ArrowSoul boys showed the masses Taos’ exciting and hip future.
The early-evening affair ended with a thrashing punky performace by Desolve, a local band from Taos that features crunchy and deep punk sounds played by beautiful androgynous young musicians who aren't afraid to shake the rafters and show Taos the underbelly of the queer experience.
The third and last day of the festival started with an opening prayer. Many talented artists, dancers and poets took to the stage, but the headliner was black joy. It has been sometimes since I’ve seen melanated ecstasy of this caliber. From the popping and rolling of black hips to the loud jocular laughs of black women, I felt a primordial comfort knowing that I was surrounded by my people, and my people were surrounded by the warm embrace of unadulterated safety and happiness. The rain came, the rain went, but the black joy never swayed. People powered through the weather, listening to hip-hop and jazz musicians, attending workshops and eating soul food and Indian tacos well into the early evening.
When the evening was over, I had a chance to sit down with Dorothy Vaughan. I asked her how she felt and she responded, “I am so happy that it was a success, but I’m also happy to see the finish line.” Leondra Clayton was also present and the conversation turned from discussions of joy and exhaustion to what next year's Juneteenth could look like. We all eventually got up and started picking up trash and folding chairs and collapsing tents. We all left with a feeling of accomplishment as we shut down shop, until next year‘s Juneteenth celebration.
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