On Saturday afternoon at Waban Park in Oak Bluffs, across from Inkwell Beach where the Polar Bears take their morning swim everyday 7:30 a.m., the inaugural MV Vibe Fest was in full swing.
On Saturday afternoon at Waban Park in Oak Bluffs, across from Inkwell Beach where the Polar Bears take their morning swim everyday 7:30 a.m., the inaugural MV Vibe Fest was in full swing.
With music by Theresa Thomason and friends, food from Black Joy Kitchen and about 30 local vendors from around the Island selling artisinal goods the event highlighted the Vineyard artistic community and the deep roots of Black history on the Island.
MV Vibe Fest was created by Yvonne Mendez and Edgard Arty. Ms. Mendez started coming to the Island in the 1990s and is now a West Tisbury resident.
Ebony Carter.
Ebony Carter.
“We were trying to engage the African American community and to actually lift up the legacy of African Americans on the Island. Not solely, but kind of putting a special light on that, while including everyone,” she said at the event.
Mr. Arty said his family has been coming to the Vineyard for generations.
“Being here in the legendary Waban Park and next to the legendary Inkwell Beach, why would I not want to have it here?”
The event attracted people from all over the Island, including passersby headed to the beach or into town.
Christy Vanderhoop.
Christy Vanderhoop.
“We figured we would do it here across from the Inkwell, where we would attract our target audience, but also we really wanted to try to bring people from up-Island down here, so we have a couple of vendors who are here from up-Island,” Ms. Mendez said.
Denise Blaire, an Island resident and vendor at the event, sat behind her table displaying about six different fragrances of homemade shea butter for attendees to sample. Ms. Blaire founded Rhone Botanicals and Skincare, which sells pure unrefined shea butter, essential oils and other skincare products.
At a nearby table, Jeanine Primm Jones sold camouflage shirts from her “no hunting series” which aims to make a statement about how Black people often feel unsafe and unwelcome in nature. The shirts featured a portrait on the front made out of collage materials from an old office supply catalog, using the bottoms of chair legs as hair and a brown paper bag as the face.
“I noticed that a lot of African Americans do not go out in the woods, so I thought having our face with woods in the background was significant and important,” she said. “We deserve to go in the woods just like anybody else.”
Morgan Fykes.
Morgan Fykes.
The shirts also included the words “No hunting” on the back in red and black text in reference to police brutality.
Ms. Jones grew up coming to the Vineyard.
“We sometimes feel like we’re hunted,” she said. “For instance, you can go out on Circuit avenue at night and stand in the street and feel free and no one is going to be suspicious about what you are doing there. This is a beautiful place like that, but we don’t feel like that in most places.”
David Allen, a Vineyard resident and vendor at the festival, was raising money for a South African organization called Southern Africa Park. He mentioned that events such as Vibe Fest are valuable spaces for Black people.
“It’s important, especially during this time of assault on our communities,” he said. “It’s important to facilitate a sense of community and bring people together.”
The festival also included tables for multiple organizations that focused on preserving the Island’s Black history and fighting racism, such as the Martha’s Vineyard chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Martha’s Vineyard Diversity Coalition and the MV African-American Heritage Trail.
Shawn Ramoutar, the communications chair for the MVNAACP, sat behind a table and handed out flyers and inviting people to become members of the organization.
“We’re here about inclusivity for everybody. Everyone is a human being who has a voice that needs to be heard, and that’s what the NAACP is about here on Martha’s Vineyard, and we’re here to spread love,” Mr. Ramoutar said.
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