Amy Benson founded Afro Aloha as a multifaceted cultural hub for Black people in Hawaiʻi – sharing their stories and helping them connect.
“Blackness is expansive, especially here in Hawaiʻi,” she says. “A lot of people are bicultural and they’re Black and Japanese, Black and Hawaiian, or Black and Filipino… We’re shedding a light on those that are Black in Hawaiʻi and navigating those identities and cultures.”
Beginnings: Benson, the company’s executive director and only employee, says she started Afro Aloha in 2020, during the Covid pandemic, to build a community where Black people could feel heard, seen and safe…