Spirituality

The Joy of Being Human: Alana Fairchild, Sobriety and the Power of Being Present

October 11, 2026 in Wellness

An unexpected encounter with spiritual teacher Alana Fairchild opens a conversation about sobriety, music and finding joy through change. Kimberley Dooshima Jev reflects on her longtime connection to Fairchild’s oracle cards and explores the ideas behind her upcoming sober Halloween ritual rave in Calgary.

AITC - October 2026

Featured

Music

AITC October 2026 - The Currency of Time - Kardinal Offishall

Music

Kardinal Offishall fronts the October issue of Afros in tha City.

In The Currency of Time, Kardi goes beyond the highlight reel to talk about independence, attention, longevity, family, the business of music and what it takes to keep creating after more than three decades in the industry.

“We’re not fighting for their money. We are fighting for attention.”

The October issue is here.

Music

Afros Picks: October 2026

Seven artists, seven distinct sounds. The October 2026 edition of Afros Picks highlights musicians connecting heritage, experimentation and creative independence across generations and borders.

Wellness

THE WOUNDS WE CANNOT SEE

Wellness

What lies beneath the way we react? Calgary counsellor Ekene Balogun explores how past experiences shape our behaviour, relationships and sense of safety. The author of Internal Bleed speaks with Afros in Tha City about compassion, healing and creating space for culturally sensitive support.

Read the feature in our October issue. Sign up for the Afros in Tha City newsletter to hear when the print issue is released.

Wellness

The Joy of Being Human: Alana Fairchild, Sobriety and the Power of Being Present

Wellness

Entertainment, Hip-Hop, Music

Rapsody Questions the Future of Hip-Hop Journalism as God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops Challenges the Attention Economy

Entertainment, Hip-Hop, Music

Grammy-winning rapper Rapsody is raising questions about the future of hip-hop journalism and the shrinking space for artists whose work demands more than a viral headline.

In a 14-slide Instagram post, the North Carolina artist questioned why meaningful music often struggles to receive serious coverage, even when it connects deeply with listeners.

Her concerns extend beyond artists seeking publicity. Rapsody pointed to declining newsroom resources, fewer music writers, reduced print coverage and fewer opportunities for journalists to spend time exploring albums in depth.

Entertainment, Hip-Hop, Music

Inside Asia Clarke’s Braided Future

Step inside Asia Clarke’s braided future, where Black hair, community care and science fiction meet. Inspired by African symbols and the bold styling of The Fifth Element, the multidisciplinary designer imagines a world where hair braiders shape new technologies through BRAID2BRAIN and Ama’s Salon.

Read the feature online now. Sign up for the Afros in Tha City newsletter to be notified when our October print issue is released.

Dance, Hip-Hop

Freedom Is the Work: Spicey Landé and Jai Nitai Lotus Find A Way Through Mōnad

Dance, Hip-Hop

The Montreal artists bring Mōnad to Calgary’s Fluid Fest with a work rooted in hip-hop, grief, spirit, community and the freedom to show up whole. Alexandra “Spicey” Landé had one condition for returning to the stage.

“If I’m going on stage, I’m doing whatever the hell I want.”

It sounds like a declaration because it is one. After two decades of building choreography, teaching, mentoring and helping push street dance into spaces that did not always know what to do with it, Landé was not interested in returning to performance to satisfy somebody else’s idea of what a Black woman, a hip-hop artist or a contemporary dancer should look like. She wanted freedom.

Dance, Hip-Hop

Film

A Century of Faust: Silent Cinema Meets Live Music in Calgary

Film

Released in 1926, Faust is among the defining works of German Expressionist cinema. Directed by F. W. Murnau, the film draws on centuries of European folklore and literature to tell the story of a man who makes a bargain with the devil in exchange for knowledge, power and youth.

The film stars Swedish actor Gösta Ekman in the title role alongside Emil Jannings as Mephistopheles. Through elaborate sets, visual effects and dramatic contrasts between light and shadow, Murnau created a world where the boundaries between good and evil, faith and temptation, become increasingly difficult to separate.

Film

Podcast

Movie Stars Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman & Ibrahim Suleiman are headed to Calgary!

Podcast

Calgary-based producers Ejiro Onobrakpor and Nenritji Suwa are bringing the acclaimed Due Parenting Podcast Live to the stage.

Podcast

Music

Beyoncé Is Coming to the Symphony. Do You Understand What Is Happening Here?

Music

Composer and conductor Steve Hackman brings Beethoven X Beyoncé to Calgary, weaving Beyoncé’s music through Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

Kimberley Dooshima Jev talks with Hackman about “Halo,” Beyoncé’s musical intelligence, classical music’s boundaries and what happens when two musical worlds are allowed to meet.

Music

AITC September 2026 - What Will It Take For Us To Feed One Another - Aquakultre

COVER STORY PREVIEW

Through 1783 and Matriarchs, Aquakultre is transforming family memory into a living archive while asking Black Nova Scotian communities to remember how deeply they belong to one another.

By Kimberley Dooshima Jev

Lance Sampson was standing in front of a video kiosk at the Africville Museum when a familiar name appeared on the screen. The woman speaking was his great-great-grandmother. Sampson had stumbled onto what he understands to be the only surviving recording of her voice.

His first instinct was reverence. His second was hip-hop.

“I immediately went into hip-hop mode,” he remembers. “Let me sample this right quick.”

That impulse sits at the centre of Sampson’s work as Aquakultre: find what remains, listen closely, then give it somewhere new to live.

Read the full cover story

Aquakultre covers the September 2026 issue of Afros in tha City. The complete story explores 1783, Matriarchs, the family histories behind the work and the moment Lance Sampson found his voice.

The full feature and photo story will be released with the September digital issue and limited print edition.

Join the Afros in tha City newsletter to be the first to know when both editions become available.

Art, Contemporary Dance

How Springboard Is Building Calgary’s Cultural Ecosystem

Art, Contemporary Dance

Dance, public space, galleries and live performance become part of the same conversation when Springboard Performance asks what a cultural ecosystem can look like.

Through Fluid Fest and its wider programming, artistic director Nicole Mion is building connections between artists, audiences and ideas in Calgary while placing the city within national and international conversations about contemporary performance.

In How Springboard Is Building Calgary’s Cultural Ecosystem, Afros in tha City looks at the systems behind the art, the importance of circulation and the artists using movement, theatre, music and visual art to create new ways into performance.

The full feature and photo story will be released with the September digital issue and limited print edition.

Join the Afros in tha City newsletter to be the first to know when both editions become available.

Art, Contemporary Dance

What Sugar and Indigo Remember

Sugar, indigo, family photographs and the Atlantic carry histories that are easy to overlook until someone asks us to look again.

At Dalhousie Art Gallery, curator francesca ekwuyasi brings together Stina Baudin, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Bushra Junaid and Christina Leslie for Burnt Sugar Blue, an exhibition examining colonialism, Black diasporic memory, family, spirituality and the histories embedded in everyday materials.

In What Sugar and Indigo Remember, Afros in tha City looks at how these artists turn materials and archives into something living, while Roger Mooking’s SoundBites continues the conversation from across the gallery.

The full feature and photo story will be released with the September digital issue and limited print edition.

Join the Afros in tha City newsletter to be the first to know when both editions become available.

Roger Mooking Is Building Beyond the Algorithm

Roger Mooking is thinking beyond the algorithm.

With SoundBites, the Canadian multidisciplinary artist is responding to streaming culture, shrinking attention spans and the rise of AI by asking a different question: what happens when technology distributes the work, but does not define its value?

In conversation with Afros in tha City, Mooking talks about the state of the music industry, the value of slow creative practice and why the future of music may look a lot more like a campfire than a platform.

The full feature and photo story will be released with the September digital issue and limited print edition.

Join the Afros in tha City newsletter to be the first to know when both editions become available.

Film

Alberta Doesn’t Have a Talent Problem. It Has an Access Problem.

Film

Talent, ambition and strong ideas are not always enough when the people with the power to finance, develop and distribute them are somewhere else.

At the inaugural TIFF: The Market, Creatives Empowered brings Alberta creators Sandra Bueckert, Tobit Luyeye Lemba and Flordeliza Dayrit into conversations with producers, buyers, distributors and other industry decision-makers from around the world.

In Alberta Doesn’t Have a Talent Problem. It Has an Access Problem., Afros in tha City looks at what meaningful industry access can mean for creators working outside Canada’s largest production centres, and why visibility only matters if the conversation continues after the festival.

The full web exclusive is available now on Afros in tha City.

Film

Sold Out

July 2026 - The Omnibus - Print

CA$50.00

The Summer Omnibus is our most ambitious issue yet. Bringing together seven months of journalism, photography, and storytelling, this special collector's edition celebrates Black arts, business, fashion, music, and community across Canada and the diaspora.

Featuring exclusive cover stories with Judith Demosthene, Funmi Osatuyi, Adrianne Williams, Nancy Nixon, Ayokunle Akinsebikan, Femi Jr., and more, this 70-page volume captures the people, ideas, and conversations shaping culture today.

Beautifully printed in limited quantities, the Summer Omnibus is designed to be collected, shared, and revisited long after publication.

Limited print copies available.