Cultured Kinfolk
Cultured Kinfolk is a Black Diaspora DTC lifestyle brand centered on affirming Black and Brown culture that has been historically ignored by producing reflective apparel, home goods, stationery, and accessories.
Tell us about you and your work:
My name is Janet Luz Sackey, founder of Cultured Kinfolk. I am a proud first-generation, Dominican-Ghanaian, Queer, Black woman from NYC. My work is centered in producing culturally reflective products, events, and content to affirm the Black and Brown community. I had the privilege of working as the Communications and Special Events Manager at the Caribbean Cultural Center Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) for five years. In that role I learned the power of using social media to build community, creating conscious content, and the art of producing events to engage, educate, and heal the community. Working at CCCADI and attending festivals like Afropunk and the AfroLatino Festival I started to notice that I was part of a borderless African Diaspora community, a community that uses fashion as their crown, carries their spirituality in their bags, and honors the spirit in one another. Understanding that I was a member of this community inspired me to create products that affirm that lifestyle.
Cultured Kinfolk is a Black Diaspora DTC lifestyle brand centered on affirming Black and Brown culture that has been historically ignored by producing reflective apparel, home goods, stationery, and accessories. My work uses digital technology to create digital and physical artifacts centered on the Black and Brown experience and history. Within Cultured Kinfolk I have started several initiatives such as the #CollectTheCulture which aims to democratize our history by making it accessible, tangible, and alive in your home, classroom, and office with reprints of vintage posters such as the historic "I Am A Man" poster. My overarching intention is to educate the community on the African Diaspora. Currently, I have a line of t-shirts that highlight historic and modern figures in Black Diaspora History such as Marcus Garvey, Marsha P Johnson, Fred Hampton, Celia Cruz, Toni Morrison, to Megan Thee Stallion.
Cultured Kinfolk is a product of my journey of decolonizing my history, spirituality, mind, and body. I grew up with a colonized mentality, relaxing my hair, worshipping women like Keira Knightley, and unconscious of the tremendous role my ancestors played in history and civilization. As I began to uncover the whitewashed veils from before my eyes, I realized that general media, society, and fashion didn't affirm the legacy of my ancestors, my culture, and lifestyle as a first-generation Black woman. That epiphany is the heart of Cultured Kinfolk.
Additionally, I offer the services of creative direction, apparel design, POD training, and eCommerce management.
What inspires you?
My ancestors, the entrepreneurial spirit of my family, the history of our people, and the liberating power of technology.
What does community mean to you?
Community is a tribe of kinfolk that sees and affirms your spirit. Community has no boundaries, you can find community both on and offline.
Favorite films
Pride and Prejudice, Love Jones, and L'Auberge Espagnole.
Favorite Artists
Tame Impala, Combo Chimbita, Robi Draco Rosa, Seal, Thundercat, and Jimi Hendrix. I have so many I cannot fathom answering in such a short area. :)
Favorite places
Going to experience live music and being in la cocina with my Mom cooking and philosophizing on life.