About me
Afatasi is a master welder, tradeswoman, cultural architect, and member of the only generational community experiencing genocide in San Francisco. In 2020, the city’s Human Rights Commission reported, “The Black population is the only racial group in San Francisco to decline in every census count since 1970.” In 2024, the Board of Supervisors issued a formal apology for racist policies that dismantled neighborhoods and displaced families. Afatasi’s work is both personal and collective: a response to loss and a framework for cultural repair. Her practice, the Afatasi Universe, is a cosmology where fi ne-arts, ritual, and pedagogy converge. Afatasi is founder of the San Francisco Belles, an intergenerational parade group carrying the traditions of the American South in Carnaval and Juneteenth parades. Sunbelt Gallery, her cultural container, is a fi ne-arts gallery meets one-room classroom. Its programs include the Futurism Fashion Experience, in its fi fth year, as well as Mardi Gras on Third and the Sucka Free Derby, both in their third year. Together, these off erings advance deep placemaking and cultural advocacy, affi rming her endangered community’s right to remain in the city.
