distant cousins presents.
culture is how communities build trust. community is how trust travels. commerce is what makes both sustainable.
distant cousins is a platform that organizes the cultural, social, and economic life of african and caribbean diaspora communities — and the corridors that connect them to the world.
every gathering, every partnership, every transaction — 100% of proceeds support community wellbeing, creative fellowships, and the infrastructure that keeps this network free and accessible to the communities it serves.
a network that moves
culture, community, and commerce.
distant cousins started with artists. a gathering in atlanta. a sold-out production staged from west africa to west atlanta. 1,000+ creatives in community. that was circle zero — a proof of concept that culture travels, connects, and creates real economic outcomes when it has the right infrastructure behind it.
but culture is bigger than the art world. it's the food, the faith, the language, the aesthetics, the humor, the memory, the way communities organize meaning and belonging. the doctor, the chef, the builder, the entrepreneur, the everyday person who doesn't have a professional identity tied to culture but who lives inside it every day.
distant cousins is for all of them. it's the platform that makes diaspora culture economically productive — not by extracting from it, but by organizing it. the gatherings are the mechanism. the network is the product. and commerce is what makes it last.
shared identity, aesthetics, food, faith, memory, and creative expression. culture is how trust is built faster than any institution can manage. distant cousins creates and activates cultural moments that make the network feel real.
the 1,000+ artists, makers, chefs, entrepreneurs, professionals, and community anchors connected across cities. the network exists between events — in referrals, introductions, collaborations, and commerce that happen because of distant cousins but not always at one.
business referrals. professional introductions. brand partnerships. supplier relationships. consumer spending directed toward community businesses. every gathering is also a market. every connection is also a potential transaction. commerce is what gives the whole thing permanence.
and here's what makes this different: the commerce that flows through distant cousins doesn't extract from the community — it funds it. 100% of proceeds go back into community wellbeing programs, creative fellowships, and the infrastructure that makes the network work. spending here is giving here.
the whole community.
every part of it.
artists were circle zero. the network was always meant to be broader. distant cousins is for anyone who lives inside african or caribbean diaspora culture — and wants to connect, build, and transact within a community they trust.
artists, chefs, designers, architects, fashion makers — anyone producing work rooted in diaspora culture and looking for stages, markets, and collaborators.
the barbershop, the hair salon, the caribbean grocery, the african restaurant, the community center — the businesses that hold cultural community together and deserve better infrastructure.
doctors, lawyers, educators, technologists, entrepreneurs embedded in diaspora communities. their networks run through culture. distant cousins organizes that network deliberately.
and everyone who doesn't fit a category but knows that when they're in a distant cousins room, they're somewhere that matters.
Zobo + Agave
nigeria & mexico at the same table. chefs from both traditions. one shared meal.
nigerian and mexican cuisine have never needed a formal introduction. hibiscus grows in both. smoke is a shared language. fermentation runs deep on both sides. zobo + agave puts two great culinary traditions in the same room — not as a fusion experiment, but as a meal between people who recognize something in each other's food.
this is what distant cousins does. it finds the corridors that already exist — the shared history, the parallel aesthetics, the foods that evolved differently on different continents but from the same instincts — and makes them visible and economic.
no panels. no conferences. just chefs, fire, a shared table, and what happens when two great culinary traditions meet each other properly for the first time.
building cultural and economic connections between west africa and latin america — a corridor with deep shared history and a relationship that deserves more intention.
culture funds care.
commerce funds community.
when tickets sell, when brands partner, when commissions close through the distant cousins network — the proceeds fund community wellbeing programs, creative fellowships, and free access to the network for communities who need it most.
three ways the
network activates.
high-quality cultural moments — dinners, productions, exhibitions, reunions — that create the experiences worth showing up for. each activation is designed from the start with an explicit economic throughput: what did participants earn, sell, or close because of being in the room?
residencies, creative exchanges, professional introductions, business referrals, and community connections across the network. the culture creates the trust. the community keeps it warm. this is where relationships deepen between the big moments.
commissions, licensing, brand partnerships, market access, collector connections, business referrals, and supplier relationships. every gathering is also an opportunity for money to move — from brand to maker, collector to artist, audience to business. distant cousins facilitates the transaction and ensures value stays in the network.
six cities.
one network.
distant cousins is not a single city platform. the diaspora is distributed. the network follows it.
what we build.
what it funds.
every activation distant cousins runs generates two things simultaneously: a cultural moment worth showing up for, and community impact from the proceeds. here's what we've built so far — and where the value went.
a cultural production staged from west africa to west atlanta. sold out. proceeds supported creative fellowships and community programming across the birthright ecosystem.
a growing network of creatives, makers, cultural practitioners, and community members — connected for free. access to the network costs nothing. the commerce that flows through it funds the infrastructure.
the first gathering. free to attend for community members. brand and partner contributions funded the event and flowed back into community wellbeing programs. the model proved itself.
partnerships across lagos, abuja, kingston, kampala, atlanta, and mexico city. every new city is a new source of cultural energy — and a new channel for proceeds to support local community needs.
there's a place
for you here.
distant cousins is built on participation. the more people who bring their communities, their businesses, their craft, and their networks into the room — the more the whole thing compounds.
artists, chefs, designers, musicians — bring your work into the network. commissions, exhibitions, collaborations, and partnerships move through here.
have a space, a community, or an idea for a gathering in your city? distant cousins works with local hosts to bring the format to new places and new communities.
brands and institutions who want their participation to mean something real — not just a logo placement. partner with the network where value flows back into the community.
culture that pays
the people who
carry it.
distant cousins is a birthright labs venture. 100% of proceeds go back into community wellbeing, creative fellowships, and free access to the network for communities who need it most.
the network is the product. the gatherings are the mechanism. and the goal is simple — every person who moves through the distant cousins network leaves with more economic power than they arrived with, and every dollar that flows through it makes that more possible for the next person.