The Cxffeeblack to Africa documentary is coming to coffee shops in the Southeastern region of the U.S. throughout June.
BY KATRINA YENTCH
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Cover photo courtesy of Cxffeeblack
Memphis-based coffee lifestyle brand CxffeeBlack is taking their groundbreaking independent documentary Cxffeeblack to Africa on tour.
Making Waves with CxffeeBlack
CxffeeBlack’s empire of roasted coffee, apparel, music, and more has become essential to the coffee industry since their launch in 2020; their iconic “Make Cxffee Black Again“ mission statement has been printed onto T-shirts, sweaters, stickers, and other merchandise.
Recently, the brand expanded their repertoire of coffee-related content with Cxffeeblack to Africa, a documentary that follows co-owner Bartholomew Jones’ origin trip to Ethiopia to meet with Tamiru, a producer who they buy coffee from. With the angle of an African American returning to Africa, the film was made with videographer Andrew Puccio and debuted at a private screening during Specialty Coffee Expo weekend, and then to a larger public audience during the Color of Coffee Collective symposium in Houston on May 14. “It felt like just being part of history,“ said attendee Tio Fallen (of Three Keys Coffee) after watching Coffeeblxck to Africa.
Where You Can See Cxffeeblack to Africa
After two successful screenings, Cxffeeblack to Africa is officially kicking off their tour in the Southeastern region, starting with an event at Good Citizen Coffee Co. in the Nashville area on June 2, followed by dates in Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Memphis over the following weeks. The tour is going global in July, when it makes an appearance back in Ethiopia, along with Rwanda and Kenya, before making its way back to the States later this summer. You can get the most updated tour dates and locations here.
A Memorable Media Drop: Why It’s Important To Screen This Live
It’s important to note that, for now, there is no intention of making Blxck to Africa available online. Bartholomew explains that this is an intention to create an experience out of the documentary, and to make art that resonates with audiences, rather than a forgotten media drop. “A lot of the issues to me in coffee and music and art, and those by Black people, is that the issues come from hyper-capitalism and the lack of actual community, of peace,“ he said in an Instagram live stream recently. However, upon recognizing the need for wider accessibility, there are opportunities to catch shorter clips of the documentary here.
This documentary, combined with an earlier-released album, showcases just how much coffee can transcend beyond the beverage. To get updates on tour additions, you can follow the action here.
