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Àrokò Monthly Roundtable #01
This roundtable discussion names a growing unease with societies that reward visibility over substance.
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Dignify through Design
Creative Growth in a Cooperative Ecosystem: A Conversation with the Àrokò Design Department
"Because we're a community that's figuring out how to do business together, most of what we do together is play."
Community
Two Years of Clay, Community, and Creating Home
At the beginning of October, the two–year anniversary of the first Black Clay Workshop quietly passed. This coming January will also mark two years since I settled in Oakland—and honestly, it has all felt like a whirlwind. I’ve met so many people, built so many connections, and
Darfur: A Wound Still Open
04 VERSES IN THE WAKE Darfur opens— a wound the sun keeps trying to close. A girl stands in the heat, holding her silence like a bird too frightened to lift its wings. The air breaks against the girl’s face. Someone’s scream from the night before still clings
Dignify through Design
Pumpkin Angels & Habesha Magic: Stitching Spells and Sewing Culture
Ethiopian-American designers reclaim Halloween as a time of joy, blending culture with creative freedom!
Dignify through Design
Ninja Turtle Dreams
Mama zipped me in a Ninja Turtle shell—Michelangelo, the laughing one, 'cause I giggled through gunfire and dreamed in technicolor even when sirens split the night like wishbones. Sweat glued the mask to my face, plastic breath, cinnamon gum, and that hum of danger, a tuning fork struck
Dignify through Design
Messy by Design: How Eve’s Bayou Made Chaos an Art Form
Someone will ask you one day if you've seen Eve's Bayou. You need to be able to say yes.
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We Build Culture
How Àrokò Cooperative designs radical solutions for individuals and organizations.
Play Is Medicine: Designing Care Through Super Mario 64
Forget brain-training apps. In the ‘90s we already had one: Super Mario 64. Turns out Peach’s castle was a cognitive gym all along.
Àrokò Anthology: Call for submissions
ÀROKÒ ANTHOLOGY NO.1: FOLKLORE FROM AFRICA & THE DIASPORA Curated and edited by Aishatu Ado DEADLINE 12.31.25 // Submit to: contact@aroko.coop THEME We invite fiction and poetry that breathes new life into folklore from Africa and the African Diaspora. Send us stories that draw from folktales,
Using a Library Card a Day Keeps Capitalism at Bay: Happy Freedom to Read Week
On this next creative library adventure, I visited the Myers Park Library for an Arts & Crafts Drop-in experience. Normally, I’m used to booking an art event where you have to stay for the full 2 hour timeframe, so, it was really nice to have the option of
Discord Decides: How Nepal's Youth Turned Gaming Infrastructure into Architecture For Liberation
145,000 young Nepalis turned Discord into a digital parliament and elected their country's first woman interim prime minister. Design reflects the values of those who wield it, not those who built it.