BLK MKT Vintage Dives Deep into Their Decade-Long Journey as Culture Curators
Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart speak on collecting Black material culture in their debut book ‘BLK MKT Vintage: Reclaiming Objects and Curiosities’.
Penning a poignant love letter to the days before us, Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart of BLK MKT Vintage deliver their debut book, BLK MKT Vintage: Reclaiming Objects and Curiosities That Tell Black Stories, detailing their decade-long journey as curators of Black material culture. The recently-released coffee table book only scratches the surface of the couple’s devout dedication to the Black community through their rigorous historical research – dating back decades – and sentimental vintage sourcing.
Over 10 years, the Brooklyn natives have scoured estate sales, local flea markets, vintage stores and antique malls for eclectic collectibles, nostalgic literature, retro vinyl records and miscellaneous antiques that capture and conserve Black excellence from generation to generation. For Jannah and Kiyanna, their creative craft goes beyond building a bespoke collection of throwback curiosities that date back to the earlier days of their ancestors – their mission is to reframe these timeless objects as global and American history rather than Black American history.
“We specialize in Black antiques, which renders us access to stories and histories that span topics across the antiques industry,” the culture curators shared. “Black history is American history. Black history is global history. Black cultural ephemera is military, political, beauty, entertainment, architectural design and decorative arts ephemera as well.”
Although their book was released this year, BLK MKT Vintage: Reclaiming Objects and Curiosities That Tell Black Stories was in the works long before the duo conceived of a tangible book. They dreamed of documenting every step of their vintage discoveries and sharing their learnings in a medium that would transcend their brick-and-mortar store. The book is just one example of their thoughtful efforts to expand past their online and offline communities in Brooklyn. They previously worked with costume designer, Shiona Tiuri, for Issa Rae‘s Insecure and sourced select pieces for film director Spike Lee, who wrote the book’s foreword.
“Writing a book was always in the plan for us; a goal we worked towards for the last 10 years,” Jannah and Kiyanna said. “Back in 2020, we were approached by an editor, encouraging us to pitch a book about our work. While we didn’t end up working with that editor, that inquiry helped encourage us to complete a book proposal, hire a book agent, and, subsequently, sell the book. The work we do is expansive and each medium – social media, our brick-and-mortar, or curated activations, all allow for different entry points to history for our people. We know the power of the written word and physical books as pieces of our ephemera to be collected and passed down, so writing this book is another means of doing our work.”
Blk Mkt Vintage
Blk Mkt Vintage
Blk Mkt Vintage
Together, Jannah and Kiyanna have curated a collection of over tens of thousands of precious, powerful vintage pieces and they won’t be stopping any time soon. In between their vintage sourcing sessions and preparation for their upcoming book tour, Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart of BLK MKT Vintage sat down for an interview with Hypebae detailing their experience writing BLK MKT Vintage: Reclaiming Objects and Curiosities That Tell Black Stories. The duo dive into the nuances of navigating the antiques industry as Black Queer women and what the future has in store for them.
Reclaiming Objects and Curiosities That Tell Black Stories is not only a celebration of Black culture but also a celebration of BLK MKT Vintage’s 10th anniversary. How does it feel to see the culmination of your cultural contributions in your book?
It still doesn’t fully feel real. It’s surreal to see our work, ideas and passions in an actual, tangible book. Even before we had a name for the business 10 years ago now, we knew the work we were doing deserved to be memorialized in a dope coffee table book. Ultimately, we wrote this book with the expressed goal to be found. A scrapbook of Black material culture that presents a snapshot of Black people’s brilliance across the time continuum, as shown through our cultural production and stories. So, we are filled with immense pride for what we’ve been able to contribute to the culture.
How does it feel to navigate such a niche business – for a decade – where there are few Black people, specifically Black Queer women? Have you had to overcome any difficulties and if so, how?
We often grapple with our business and work being described as “niche,” especially given the ways Black people and our cultural production is both marginalized and invisibilized. While there are growing numbers of Black collectors and shopkeepers at the forefront of vintage resale businesses, we’ve been doing the work of collecting, trading and archiving materials for generations – not always in ways that are fully legible to business/industry insiders.
We’re so grateful to have grown both, within and outside of the industry for the last 10 years and like many entrepreneurs have navigated a tumultuous economic climate, the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-black gentrification in our hometown, Brooklyn, sexism and lack of financial resources (capital funding and investment). Despite these challenges, we remain committed to providing our community with a dope selection of vintage and antique objects curated through our lens.
As two Queer Black women, in what other ways do you feel that your business is representative of your identity and community?
Our business comes from a place of love – for Black people, history and each other. We make a deliberate choice to be the face of our business. We are well aware of the politics that come with being unapologetic and queer, yet we understand at the very personal level what having Black, queer representation would have meant to our younger selves. We talk at length in the book the importance of representation and the ways that possibility models open up room for existence and abundance. Additionally, being a part of marginalized groups also emboldens us to correct the cannon and seek out representations of queer folks and stories from the past. The items we offer are intentionally curated to include communities and narratives left out of the mainstream.
What are some of the emotions you’re experiencing after 10 years of hard work?
As we approach the 10th anniversary of BLK MKT Vintage’s founding, we’re sitting with immense pride, exhaustion and perseverance simultaneously. We’re a mighty two-woman team and it’s been both fun and inspiring managing all of our work. We’re also tired to be completely real. Adulting in this moment requires a lot, so we’re doing our best to show up fully in all our lives together and as individuals. We’re so proud of all we’ve accomplished and can look at the last 10 years feeling solid about what we’ve contributed to the industry, the canon and the culture.
Spike Lee wrote the foreword to BLK MKT Vintage. What was it like having such an influential cultural figure contribute to your book? How did his words impact you?
We were incredibly humbled when Spike agreed to do the forward. Outside of being huge fans of his work cinematically, as two Black women from Brooklyn, he is an icon for the city and the culture! We grew up watching VHS tapes of Crooklyn and Do The Right Thing, so getting to meet Spike was major on its own. We initially met Spike in 2018 at AfroPunk Brooklyn. We were selling vintage records and he bought a single of “Da Butt” from the movie School Daze with his face on it. Since then he has been a client, supporter and friend. The introduction was so affirming and a fun entreé into the power of material culture and our work. It doesn’t get much better than getting affirmation and validation from an OG Brooklynite and Black cultural icon.
What was the creative collaborative process like when working on BLK Market Vintage? How was it different from the collaborative process of sourcing pieces relevant to the Black community and Black culture?
We’re first-time authors and while we’ve had articles and academic work published, this is our first book. We did quite a bit of information gathering in the early days to determine how we wanted to work on the book and what we wanted to include. We consulted with Black women authors and writers in our immediate circle about their experience with the publishing industry and it was really eye-opening.
Primarily, we had to figure out how to merge and marry our two, unique voices to ensure that the book sounded cohesive for readers. Jannah and I alternated chapters, starting with the introduction. This process [required] the same mindfulness we usually work with, keeping in mind our individual likes, interests, strengths and areas of expertise. Another part of the process we had to strategize about was the storytelling format. We’re highly visual and wanted to incorporate a bunch of images of materials, spaces and collections, while also lending lots of space for verbal storytelling. We wanted a coffee table book that leaned on both to tell a more full story about the objects we collect and sell.
What tips or tricks would you give to those interested in sourcing vintage goods? What are some of the lessons you’ve learned over the past 10 years?
We have a whole section in the book dedicated to tips and tricks for navigating the vintage industry, markets or other negotiations. In terms of hacks for sourcing we lean on the ABC’s of Vintage, “Always Be Checking…” No matter where you are, do a search for local estate sales, flea markets, vintage stores or antique malls. When you look in different places, you find different things. Whether you are traveling 30 miles up the road or 3,000 miles over oceans, patronize local vintage establishments to get unique pieces you may never be able to find in the stores close to home. The biggest lesson we have learned in this journey is to not only bet on, but invest in yourself. There were a million and one reasons why leaving our two, full-time, health-insured jobs for the entrepreneurial unknown was the wrong move. But, we were emboldened by each other and our community to lean in and trust the journey.
What plans do you have for BLK MKT Vintage following the release of this book?
We’re thrilled to be spending some time on tour, celebrating the release of this first book title. The first leg of our book tour is kicking off in Brooklyn and taking us to Houston, Texas and Los Angeles. We’re planning events in Philly, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington DC in the coming months. We are planning a series of conversations that continues to shift the way Black folks see themselves in [relation] to objects/material histories. We’re planning to build out our staff and hire 1-2 additional staff members to support our expanding work. We also hope to explore Black folks’ curatorial work through different media, particularly television. Oh, and another book. We’re working through a few concepts already to continue the conversation.
