17. TrooRa Magazine The Black History Issue Special ’23

EDITOR’S NOTE

The Black History Issue

Special 23

H appy New Year, World! We are thrilled and delighted to share TrooRa’s first Black History Issue with you. We are so excited for everyone to experience this special issue. Our entire staff worked hard on these pieces, but we would like to give special thanks to Andres Maldonado and Sherdellah Anunciado, our Design Editors, for their outstanding leadership and creative abilities. In this special issue, we highlight and celebrate the accomplishments of tremendous individuals, the heroic history and extraordinary achievements of Black people in general within local and global communities. Whether through spotlighting their exceptional work in many categories, including founder stories and struggles of innovative emerging brands, art, travel, tech, home design, culinary, fashion, and more, or highlighting celebrities and politicians' notable efforts to advance black education, health, and wealth. It is an absolute dream to publish a full issue showcasing black excellence. In Home Design, we showcase the exquisite work of three beloved Interior Designers, Courtney McLeod, Leah Alexander, and Corey Damen Jenkins. In Culinary, we share Bertony Faustin’s story of how he came to create Abbey Creek Vineyards and spotlight some of the best chefs changing the narrative and our taste buds with their innovative cuisines and ingredients. Our cover feature focuses on the story of contemporary artist Mohau Modisakeng making waves in the international art world. This feature brought us some sleepless nights at TrooRa Magazine and has been one of the most difficult decisions we’ve had to make as a team. Choosing this cover was a robust undertaking. The images are all so stunning, breathtaking, meaningful, and poignant that we decided to give you the option of Three Covers, a first for TrooRa Magazine. We have new features in Fashion, Beauty, and Wellness, as well as Health & Fitness and Science. In Troo Gifts, our new gifting guide, Black Owned Brands we love will aid you in discovering some rare gems. As you know, our goal is to continue to bring our digital issues to life with print, but we’ve had to make some concessions. The thought of having to reduce the number of pages to help with printing costs is always challenging, but I find myself at a crossroads, especially with this special issue… So many delightful stories to share that we could not diminish or scale down on this astounding issue. You will be engulfed with the images, stories, and our first two videos in this issue. Yes, I said videos… We hope you are as excited as we are to be introduced to new brands and support them not just during Black history month but every day. With each issue, our goal is to continue to inspire, innovate, and bring you the latest and greatest in the world of publishing today. We believe we have done it here. A delightful surprise can be found on pages 150 and 220. We know you will revel in it!

Trystanne Cunningham Editor-In-Chief Creative Director Founder

Charles Schoenberger

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