Students celebrate the release of the first edition of Faces of Black Penn, a newly revived publication highlighting the Black student experience at Penn (Photo from Adeoluwa Fatukasi).
Faces of Black Penn — a newly revived publication highlighting the Black student experience at Penn — released its first two editions in December 2023 and 2024, with a third issue set to be released this spring.
The publication operates as a literary outlet for Black students to share their thoughts and work. Through journalism, opinion pieces, political commentary, photography, and art sections, Faces of Black Penn represents a long legacy of media publications for Black voices on Penn’s campus.
College junior Adeoluwa Fatukasi, the editor-in-chief of Faces of Black Penn, said that one of the publication’s main goals is to become an enduring entity that provides an unfiltered platform for Black voices.
“This is going to be the space dedicated to Black thought,” Fatukasi said. “This is going to be the space that future generations of Black students go to.”
2023 College graduate Marcus Ramirez and College senior Tarah Paul first revived the publication in winter 2022, releasing the first issue that December. The second issue was published a year later, and a third issue is planned for April 2024.
This semester, Faces at Black Penn is focused on involving alumni, faculty, and a culture of mentorship to ensure a sustainable culture for the future. Fatukasi described curating a space where younger students feel comfortable contributing their opinions as one of the best aspects of her involvement with the publication.
She told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the magazine is looking to involve new Black student storytellers, poets, journalists, photographers, and artists, as they hope to grow their initiative by sponsoring creativity and amplifying young ideas.
“It’s a space that was made for us, by us,” Fatukasi said.
Brian Peterson — the director of Makuu: The Black Cultural Center — serves as Faces of Black Penn’s informal advisor. He said that the publication represents an opportunity to highlight students’ talent through both media content and spotlights featuring recent achievements and students' projects.
Peterson described the magazine as a place for students to “really celebrate each other.”
College junior and senior editor for Faces of Black Penn Blossom Izevbigie said that she views the publication — particularly as an opinion writer — as an opportunity to help others view Penn from a different perspective.
Fatukasi echoed Izevbigie’s perspective, saying that what makes the publication special is its dedication to the inclusion of Black voices. Fatukasi — who has a history of writing for diverse publications — emphasized that there is a value to having a special space for cultural groups.
“I didn’t want to be just one of a couple Black voices,” she said. “Being a space for Black culture, Black politics, the social environment of Black Penn, there’s value in that.”
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