Celebrating Black Creatives: Coverage of BLACK STARS at Make Manifest BK

It's well-documented at this point: Black History Month is something that's very important to us at The Recess Bell — a black-owned company.

Additionally, here's something beautiful that I've been meditating on all week: Black History is being made every second of every day.

That's part of the beauty of creativity. While Black History is vast and fruitful in the context of the past, the pioneers of today force us to take note of present Black successes as well.

There's currently a pleasant and momentous reminder of this taking place in the heart of Brooklyn.

On Sunday, February 15, I was invited by 'Celebrating Black Creatives' manager Gina Halstead to cover an the opening night of a two-week event in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn from 4pm-8pm, titled BLACK STARS – self-described as a living historical archive of selected works from 16 Black New York-based artists:

16 BLACK ARTISTS CREATE A LIVING ARCHIVE AT BLACK STARS, A Black History Month Exhibition at Make Manifest: Jabari Brxwne, Jomani Danielle, Nyzere Dillon, Jeffery Fulcher, Taiye Godbody, Traci Johnson, Watson Mere, Ato Obong, Cici Osais, Jasiah Powers, Reneé Simone, Paris Souffrant, Assane Sy, Dapo Da Vinci, Robert Provilus, and Gabrielle Narcisse.

LEFT TO RIGHT / TOP TO BOTTOM: Jabari Brxwne, Joy Fulcher, Jomani Danielle, and Traci Johnson posing with their artwork.

The art exhibition is currently taking place at Make Manifest BK, AT 382-384 Tompkins Avenue, running from Sunday, October 15th through this coming Saturday, October 28th — the final day of Black History Month here in 2026.

Opening night had a wonderful turnout all the way from when we arrived at 4pm through the end of the night's festivities. The Make Manifest Cafe was serving patrons some (much-needed) hot & delicious tea throughout the event in the midst of a chilly evening.

"The cafe really catered to a lot of different Black Art rather than just being a standard cafe. I loved their perfume fragrances that were made locally in house; I was told [that] by someone there. The retail items: like the clothes, the hats, the tote bags, the jewelry especially — so many things were beautifully crafted. It was hard to not want to buy everything in the entire store. It’s clear that the items they have for sale were made and selected with intention, even their menu items is clearly made with intention of prioritizing wellness. That was really evident. The teas were absolutely delicious and truly allowed me to feel the desired effect of its herbal notes." - Carlee Rose, attendee

About midway through the opening, as I was inside the Make Manifest cafe sipping on a heavenly fusion of chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, and bay leaf (big shoutout to the Be Easy Blend!), I noticed that the vast majority of the attendees gathered outside quickly & collectively shuffled inside next door.

Getting up in search of the reason why, the crowd and I were treated to a vigorous live drumming performance from Ballet Fè Sa, a Bed-Stuy-based contemporary African percussive ensemble. Well worth the front row seat everyone was scrambling for, IMO.

During it all, an incredible congregation of community and celebration of Black creativity took place. As part of The Recess Bell's Celebrating Black Creatives campaign, Gina and I were blessed to sit down and film interviews with 6 of the 16 featured artists at the exhibition: Jabari Brxwne, Jomani Danielle, Traci Johnson, Joy Fulcher, Gabrielle Narcisse and Robert Provilus. We also got to interview Nikita, who was a figure of Robert Provilus' featured painting.

"I'm one of Rob's old college friends..., he was helping me do something in my room, and he asked me 'is it OK if I paint you?' I was really anxious, but he was really reassuring and showed me what the process looks like... it was a really cool experience in general. It took a couple of shots; we did a couple photoshoots with Jabari [Brxwne]. It was a really cool process."

Robert Provilus and his featured painting at BLACK STARS.

"I feel like being Black means constantly recognizing and being aware of Blackness. To me, it's so important to understand the beauty behind it; the beauty of being black, the beauty of being woman as well as a double-minority. [Being Black], it means absolutely everything. In every lifetime, I would choose to be Black.... I have a sociology degree from Binghamton, so intersectionality is very important to me. Being a Black woman is very important to me. Understanding the nuances and how I move throughout the world is very important to me. There's so many aspects to it." - Nikita, subject

Nikita (elocaatikin on Instagram).

We look forward to providing you with the clips of Gina's interviews with Nikita and the aforementioned 6 artists in the coming days across The Recess Bell's platform (here on the website and across all of our social media platforms). They each provided a lot of thoughtful, musing responses and reflections on their art while showcasing their personality in their own unique and substantive ways.

Three days following the opening of Black Stars, I was blessed to interview the event's two curators, Robert and Gabrielle, on The Recess Bell's weekly radio show, The Recess Bell: On Air (Wednesdays, 6-8pm, 90.3 WHPC-FM.)

Brooklyn-born Robert Provilus, as has already been established, is a talented, multifaceted artist. Robert is also a dedicated educator in teaching students of various ages and grades, has produced a number of different series, workshops and community activations at Make Manifest BK over the years; BLACK STARS is just the latest of these community activations.

Robert's painting of Nikita and other work is currently on full display at BLACK STARS.

Gabrielle Narcisse is one of New Jersey's finest; although as a NYU graduate, she is now one of New York's finest as well. She is a super-skilled artist, dancer, and photographer who is of Jamaican, Haitian, and Little Caribbean descent. That deep mixture of background, culture, and creativity culminated in her 2020 founding of the Black Girl Fight Club.

"Black Girl Fight Club (BGFC) is committed to providing empowering experiences for black women, fostering joy, value, and a sense of community. Through a range of diverse events throughout NYC, we cater to the needs of our community, while also offering a platform for black women/femme/non-binary artists to showcase their talents in industries that historically marginalize and overlook our contributions." - blackgirlfightclub.org/about

Black Girl Fight Club logo and branding.

In the TRBOA interview, I got the opportunity to ask Robert and Gabrielle about their individual and shared paths that have delivered them to the very successful points they find themselves at now.

In asking Robert about his inspiration and motivation for BLACK STARS, in addition to my question to Gabrielle about what went into the founding of her momentous Black Girl Fight Club community, they each provided deeply introspective and meaningful answers that made it wildly easy to understand their past, current and future successes.

"David Hammons — he's an artist, and he made the red, black and green American flag, inspired by the Pan-African flag by Marcus Garvey. [Hammons] combined that work with the American flag to create this flag for the Black American identity. That's what I used as inspiration to create this exhibition; the stars, the stripes, the colors. Even the flyers [for the event]. I used that as a strong motif; the red, black and green, and especially the stars that Hammons used in the work." - Robert Provilus, 'Celebrating Black Creatives' BHM interview on The Recess Bell: On Air (90.3 FM), Wed, 2.18.26

"African-American Flag" - David Hammons, 1990. IMAGE FROM MOMA'S DISPLAY OF THE WORK.

"I have this library stack of all the Black literature I've collected over the years... [Right now], I'm reading 'In Search Of Our Mother's Gardens' by Alice Walker. She has such a poignant way of talking about her experiences in the South and [she did so] with such intellectualism and wisdom that I aspire to. Authors like Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou — poetry is really my life's practice, and so is writing. The way that these women go into the witching hour of the night and just let it all pour out with such poise and grace and elegance... that's really what I aspire to as a Black woman." - Gabrielle Narcisse, 'Celebrating Black Creatives' BHM interview on The Recess Bell: On Air (90.3 FM), Wed, 2.18.26

Gabrielle Narcisse with her collection of Black literature; among her personal library includes Alice Walker's 'IN SEARCH OF OUR MOTHER'S GARDENS' — a powerful collection of 36 of Walker's essays, articles, reviews, statements, speeches, and pieces.

To reiterate: the BLACK STARS Art Exhibition is currently open for daily viewing! You can attend at Make Manifest BK this week from 5pm to 8pm through this coming Friday.

I recommend that you find the time this coming week to attend. I had such a positive takeaway during my time at the exhibit. The joy and enthusiasm on the artists' faces as they posed next to their work served as a valuable reminder as to why creativity is so beautiful. Above all of that, the opening night was filled with a great amount of mutual support, good energy, and love.

PHOTOS PER JASIAH POWERS.

This Saturday the 28th, the final day of 2026's Black History Month, Robert, Gabrielle and BLACK STARS will host their closing reception on the final day of the display.

They present & promote a full night of fun beginning with the Gallery viewing at 384 Tompkins Ave from 4:30-7:30p, continuing with tattoos at with BedStuy Tattoo from 7:30-8:30p, and then closing with a nightcap celebration at The Rep Music Cafe at 450 Nostrand Ave.

For now, I highly encourage you to listen to my interview of Robert and Gabrielle on this past Wednesday's TRBOA — currently available for playback on all podcast platforms; including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio! Just search up "The Recess Bell" on your platform of choice — we provide you with the Spotify link below.