Field Note #12
Winter Reflections + Celebrating the Wins
December was a month full of expansion, hard work, and lots of hibiscus. Since entering 2026, I’ve been trying to be less busy and more purposefull with my time and energy. At different parts of the day I find myself repeating internally
slow is good.
slow is good.
slow is good.
It’s been a way to help me move the many daily, weekly, and seasonal tasks to completion as opposed to just flying from one thing to the next without actually finishing anything. Part of this effort includes honoring the accomplishments and projects that I have moved to completion over the past few months. As a Capricorn stellium, it can be very easy to be hyper focused on the work to the point of rarely stopping to fully acknowledge and celebrate what’s been done. In this vain, I want to share some of what I was up to in the latter end of 2025.
Kongo Cafe’s First Grant!
In November, Kongo Cafe was a grantee for the Cultural Week of Action on Race & Democracy led by Race Foward. This was a national activation of music, arts, and cultural programming rooted in racial justice and solidarity. In Durham, I held a community coffee ceremony in conjunction with the Tierra Negra farm end of season celebration at Earthseed Land Collective. We held the coffee ceremony underneath the pergola that rests amongs the black walnut and oak trees. As I prepared the coffee, we relaxed, shared stories, and celebrated a birthday. It was such a treat to share this practice with the community I’ve been growing food with over the past two years.
Winter Blossoms Through Ceremony
Last month, I brought to fruition a project that had been in the works for almost a year. Winter Blossoms through Ceremony is a personal drink ceremony I created for the holiday seasonal menu at Cocoa Cinnamon- a local cafe and roastery whose work I’ve admired and enjoyed for years. It was a culminating point, bringing together my two positive obsessions- coffee and hibiscus. We used a single origin pourover from Ethiopia with notes of hibiscus, oolong tea and peach, and combined it with Kongo Cafe sorrel and healthy dose of honey. It was garnished cinnamon and orange making it deliciously sweet, warm, and lightly spiced.
I spent many hours alongside Cocoa Cinnamon’s creative director, Melissa, brainstorming, running numbers, and designing the components of the ceremony which included a card with instructions and a personal note from me about the magic of hibiscus. I sourced locally grown hibiscus from my farmer friend, Nikki at small rain farm, which I processed and dried with the help of my friend, Kori. It was both a labor of love and delight to work with the 5 pounds of fresh hibiscus I purchased for this project. While it only lasted a short while, it was truly a community effort and I learned a lot in the process.
Culinary Residency at Soul Sanctuary
In addition to vending at the North Durham Farmers’ Market, I also had the opportunity to embark on a winter residency at Soul Sanctuary, the cultural arts space that operates alongside the farmers’ market. I spent most of December brewing gallons of sorrel for my collaboration with Cocoa Cinnamon. I’ve also had the pleasure of sharing the space with three artists who have a year long residency in the space called the Museum of Black Creativity. This month I had the opportunity to offer sorrel and hibiscus poundcake at the opening event for one of the artists in residence, Shambo Medina. His exhibition is titled “Altar to the Revolution” and includes a host of powerful mixed media pieces around themes of Black culture, spirituality, and political struggle.
You can watch my recap video of the event here.
Closing Gratitude
I’m grateful for all the friends, collaborators, community folk, and family that have supported this season’s expansion in Kongo Cafe’s offerings. Specifically I’m grateful for Helena Cragg, founder of Soul Sanctuary and the North Durham Farmer’s Market, for making her space open and accessible to Black cultural workers. I’m grateful for Melissa and Areli at Cocoa Cinnamon for supporting my vision during one of their busiest seasons. I’m grateful for my Auntie Shelia and my mom for being my biggest supporters. I’m grateful for the entire Tierra Negra/Earthseed community for being a soft landing space full of inspiring and beautiful people that always remind me why I do this work.
As I am being intentional with documenting Kongo Cafe’s growth and sharing gratitude, I am also present with the increase in state violence in this moment, specifically through the actions of ICE. Right now, my resistance looks like listening to the organizers in Minneapolis when they speak to the conditions on the ground. It’s encouraging myself to remain open hearted to my loved ones, even when I feel overwhelmed by everything going on in the world. It’s crafting herbal medicine to support my community through this cold winter season.
With that said, stay tuned for some nourishing winter herbal & communal medicine offerings that I’ll be doing in February. I’ll try my best to write a newsletter about it, but follow @kongo.cafe on instagram too just in case.
With love & solidarity,
Alexis
So beautiful, celebrating you dear one!
Incredible work bringing all these elements together. The locally sourced hibiscus detail really elevates the whole ceremony concept beyond just a drink collaboration. Brewing gallons of sorrel during residency while artists are working around you must have created some interseting conversations. Love the slow is good mantra, especially that balance between celebrating wins and not just racing to the next project.