Abi Mustapha takes a moment to pose in front of one of the largest paintings in her studio on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. She describes her art as “flowery and goddessy,” painting big hair and big smiles. (Photo by Malakai Wade)

How a biracial artist grew to appreciate her American identity through art and activism

Abi Mustapha paints people who look like her — curly hair, dark skin, rich colors and joyful faces. For her, drawing portraits of other biracial people make up for the lack of representation she saw growing up.

“The more I paint people who look like me and see other people appreciating it, the more I appreciate myself,” she said.


The Happy Hour Newscast

The Happy Hour: A Palate-cleansing Podcast about happy news and solutions journalism. Hosts Malakai Wade and shaylyn martos want to bring some palate-cleansing stories to your day, and perhaps a cocktail recipe. New episodes every other Saturday at 5pm pst.

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Savannah Tucker is a 24-year-old doula living and working in Santa Cruz, CA. She recently went through her training to become a doula before the Coronavirus pandemic caused everything to become virtual. She has since adapted her business to an online world, and talks about some of her day-to-day doula duties to support people before and after birth using traditional methods. Produced, filmed and edited by Malakai Wade.