This Is How the Cut Celebrates Culture in Martha’s Vineyard
If you’re still in Martha’s Vineyard at a café in Oak Bluffs or on the beach in Edgartown, we’re jealous. The month of August brings in a multitude of visitors who come to the island off the Massachusetts coast as their happy place. Last week, the Cut had the honor of being the media sponsor for one of the island’s biggest August moments, the 23rd-annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. You might’ve seen our photo gallery sharing rich images of the guests who attended our events. Below, you’ll find an even deeper dive into what happened throughout the week. If the FOMO is settling in, don’t worry, we’ll be back next year.
August 4: An encore screening of Mara Brock Akil’s Forever series
To open up the week, our culture editor, Brooke Marine, sat with Mara Brock Akil for a conversation about Black love, the future of Black storytelling, and Brock Akil’s Netflix series Forever, adapted from the 1975 Judy Blume novel. The series highlighted the Vineyard in a special way that hasn’t been shown on television otherwise. Brock Akil talked about how that was intentional. “I knew this was going to be an epic and intimate love story within a love letter to Los Angeles, but also a love better to Black culture,” she said. She also spoke to Marine about the importance of providing financial support for Black creatives to produce shows like this and crafting storylines with intention. It was a conversation that set the tone for the entire week.
August 4: The film festival opening, in partnership with Delta Airlines
Later that evening, we celebrated the festival at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in partnership with our favorite airline, Delta (which flies directly into the Vineyard from JFK and LGA). It was a community gathering where island guests took flight to the dance floor (yes, we line-danced all night) and shared excitement about what was to come throughout the week. One of the highlights of the night was the custom luggage-tag station, where guests got their initials engraved onto chic leather tags.
August 5: A Color of Conversation with fashion revolutionary Bethann Hardison
For our next conversation of the week, editor-in-chief Lindsay Peoples sat with a fashion revolutionary, Bethann Hardison for a Color of Conversation. The discussion centered on Hardison’s legacy in the fashion industry as a Black model who pioneered the way, as well as the boundaries she’s pushed throughout her career. Their conversation was followed by a screening of Invisible Beauty, Hardison’s documentary that looks back on her journey as an activist and model.
August 6: Aramis dinner
We had to have a beauty moment to celebrate culture on the island, too — so we hosted a dinner in partnership with Aramis, the OG fragrance brand launched by Mrs. Estée Lauder in 1963. The brand is relaunching with Dwyane Wade as its ambassador, so what better way to kick things off than with a dinner honoring the history of the brand while marking its new modern twist.
August 7: “AI As a Creative Partner,” presented by OpenAI
AI is here and we can’t avoid it, especially as creatives. It can be scary when tech innovations arrive, but OpenAI held a panel discussion with filmmakers, storytellers, and media leaders, including our very own Peoples, to share insights about the possibilities AI presents for artists and storytellers. It was an insightful conversation that made AI feel less scary and more like an approachable tool— an important mindset shift, especially for people of color, who are often left behind in these conversations.
August 8: A special screening of Tracee Ellis Ross’s docuseries, Solo Traveling
Last month, Roku released a first-of-its-kind docuseries: A three-episode show documenting the solo travel adventures of actress and Pattern founder Tracee Ellis Ross. The episodes explore her relationship with solo travel through embracing relaxation, navigating feelings of loneliness, exploring different cities, shopping, and of course, overpacking. On the heels of announcing the series’s second season, Roku hosted a screening of the opening episode, followed by a conversation between Ross and Peoples. “I want Black women to feel whatever they want to feel,” Ross said as a closing statement for the conversation. The room was full of Ross fans who laughed with her while watching the episode.
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