Newark Looks Like This

Words by Carrie Stetler | Images by Akintola Hanif

October 18, 2014

In response to the endless barrage of stereotypes about Newark, Athena Barat coined this hashtag a few years ago: #newarklookslikethis.

“‘I’d use it every time there was really positive stuff happening in the city,’’ explains Barat, who organizes the annual Creation Nation art parade, which starts today in Newark and is held every October during OPEN DOORS week. “Because I work so closely with artists and young people, I see so many beautiful things. I just want to share it, to make it known. It came from this desire to show a side of Newark that’s just productive, creative, and healthy,’’ she says.

This year, Barat decided to bring the hashtag to life, collaborating with photographer and HYCIDE Editor-in-Chief Akintola Hanif on a street art campaign featuring Hanif’s black and white portraits of the everyday people who live and work in Newark. Two days before the parade, the first batch of images were wheat pasted on walls downtown -- portraits of children, artists, and other young creatives.

The posters are meant to contradict Newark’s reputation as a foreboding place -- ranked the unfriendliest city in the nation by Conde Nast Traveller magazine -- filled with crime, poverty, and neglect.

“I want people to see the beauty and diversity I see in Newark, reflected through the faces of its people,’’ says Hanif. “Newark has a stigma, but there’s so much good that doesn't get its much-deserved shine time. Thats what I’m trying to do here, let the true soul and spirit of the people shine through.”

HYCIDE, which published an issue on Newark in September, is more well-known for images that explore violence and economic injustice in the city. Hanif's subjects have included gang members, the homeless, and other marginalized groups. But his mission, and the mission of the magazine, is to reveal people's strength, complexity, and inner light, and always to create understanding.

His work for #newarklookslikethis isn’t a departure, he says. “I’m not trying to negate the bad. But people need to see the duality that exists here,’’ he says.

“We’re both trying to create a platform to empower people,’’ adds Barat, creative director of the non-profit Barat Foundation, which she runs with her family. The foundation began art programs for Newark children more than a decade ago.

Eventually, HYCIDE and Creation Nation hope to have 100 portraits pasted throughout the city, not only to show visitors a side of Newark that rarely makes the news, but to remind residents of their own radiance and worth.

One of the first subjects of #newarklookslikethis is Kelly Thomas, 25, a performance artist, activist, and teacher, who wouldn’t live anywhere else. “I love my creative family in Newark. I love how the city feels like a village. I love how easy it is to meet people and get connected,’’ she says. “It's always funny to me how people from New York drop their faces when I tell them I live in Newark. They relate the city to a crime capital and a danger zone, but I have so many sweet experiences here.''