Programs | FOR THE FEM IN YOU

LAST STOP

LAST STOP is a culturally immersive music and wellness activation created by FOR THE FEM IN YOU that explores healing, movement, and emotional release through sound. The experience blends live DJs, intentional soundscapes, visual storytelling, and community engagement to create spaces rooted in joy, release, nostalgia, and collective healing.

The program centers Black womxn DJs and emerging artists while highlighting the influence of Black music across generations and genres. The program’s name comes from the lack of respect Black womxn frequently receive within the music industry — often being called last despite their talent, skill, and cultural impact far surpassing many who are prioritized before them. The name serves as both commentary and resistance against the ongoing exploitation and marginalization of Black women within the arts.

LAST STOP was intentionally created as a place where Black womxn DJs are encouraged to share new beats, original mixes, experimental sounds, and genre-bending musical expression in safe and affirming community spaces. The activation also keeps Black lyricism alive and thriving through its signature cypher experience held at the end of each LAST STOP event, where lyricists and rappers are invited to freestyle, build community, and exchange energy through live performance. Artists are also given opportunities to perform original music through curated 15-minute sets, creating intentional visibility for emerging talent and independent voices.

LAST STOP exists as both an artistic experience and an emotional intervention — reminding communities of the power music holds in helping people reconnect with themselves and each other.

THE AFR0-VEGAN SOCIAL

The Afro-Vegan Social is one of Richmond’s most celebrated cultural experiences centered around plant-based living, sustainability, fashion, music, and community. Created by FOR THE FEM IN YOU, this annual activation brings together vegan chefs, restaurants, emerging fashion designers, DJs, artists, and small businesses for an immersive experience rooted in wellness, creativity, and cultural connection.

Now entering its sixth year, the Afro-Vegan Social has taken place at institutions including the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU, The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, and The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. The program intentionally normalizes healthy eating within Black communities while creating economic opportunities and visibility for marginalized businesses, creatives, and entrepreneurs.

The Afro-Vegan Social exists at the intersection of culture and wellness — proving that healthy living can be vibrant, stylish, accessible, and deeply rooted in joy.

BLACK AND FREE KWANZAA EXPO

The Black and Free Kwanzaa Expo is FOR THE FEM IN YOU’s annual cultural celebration honoring the principles, traditions, and collective spirit of Kwanzaa through community, art, education, wellness, music, and intentional economic empowerment. The program took place for three consecutive years at Chesterfield County Parks and Recreation and was designed to create accessible spaces where Black culture, Black entrepreneurship, and intergenerational community connection could be centered and celebrated.\n\nThe expo brings together local artists, performing artists, chefs, wellness practitioners, educators, creatives, and small businesses for an immersive experience rooted in cultural preservation and collective care. Through live performances, educational experiences, wellness activations, local vendors, and intentional community dialogue, attendees are introduced to the seven principles of Kwanzaa while supporting marginalized and underserved businesses throughout the holiday season.\n\nIn alignment with FOR THE FEM IN YOU’s longstanding wellness mission, the Black and Free Kwanzaa Expo intentionally centers healthy vegan foods and holistic nourishment while encouraging communities to invest directly into local Black-owned businesses and creatives. The program also became an important foundation for the growth of the Zen Zone wellness activation, helping further establish spaces where healing, rest, visibility, and cultural celebration can exist together.\n\nAt its core, the Black and Free Kwanzaa Expo is about collective liberation, economic circulation within Black communities, cultural remembrance, and creating joyful spaces where Black families, artists, entrepreneurs, and future generations feel seen, valued, and empowered.

BLACK AF: A BLACK HERSTORY CELEBRATION

BLACK AF: A Black Herstory Celebration is FOR THE FEM IN YOU’s unapologetic annual celebration honoring Black women, Black culture, Black artistry, and the immeasurable contributions Black communities have made to the world. Created as both a celebration and a cultural intervention, the program exists to intentionally center Black women in spaces where their labor, brilliance, creativity, and emotional contributions are often overlooked, exploited, or erased. The event brings together live performing artists, DJs, visual artists, poets, storytellers, wellness practitioners, local businesses, chefs, and community leaders for an immersive experience rooted in joy, education, remembrance, healing, and collective celebration. Through music, fashion, art, food, performance, and intentional dialogue, BLACK AF creates a safe and affirming space for Black expression to exist loudly, freely, and without apology. More than an event, BLACK AF serves as a reminder that Black history is living, breathing, evolving culture happening in real time. The program intentionally uplifts both emerging and established creatives while encouraging communities to invest directly into Black artists, Black-owned businesses, and the preservation of Black cultural spaces. At its core, BLACK AF is about visibility, liberation, joy, and honoring the generations of Black women whose creativity, resistance, intelligence, style, and spirit continue to shape the world around us.

CHROMATIC JAZZ

Chromatic Jazz is FOR THE FEM IN YOU’s live music series celebrating the richness of jazz, soul, rhythm, improvisation, and Black musical expression. The series was created to provide intentional performance opportunities for local and regional musicians while cultivating elevated community experiences rooted in artistry, storytelling, and cultural preservation.

The series was launched in Richmond’s Historic Jackson Ward — nationally recognized as the “Harlem of the South” — a neighborhood deeply rooted in Black excellence, entrepreneurship, and musical legacy. Jackson Ward became known across the country as a destination where Black music, soul, funk, blues, jazz, and rock were born, cultivated, and celebrated by some of the greatest names in Black music history. The neighborhood also served as one of the South’s most significant Black Wall Streets, providing economic opportunity, cultural preservation, and safe gathering spaces for Black communities during the harsh realities of segregation and Jim Crow.

Within that history, jazz music became sanctuary. It became resistance, healing, storytelling, and survival.

Chromatic Jazz continues that lineage by highlighting vocalists, instrumentalists, spoken word artists, and multidisciplinary performers through immersive evenings of live music paired with visual art, wellness experiences, and curated community engagement.

Chromatic Jazz exists as both a celebration of Black musical lineage and a platform for emerging artists carrying those traditions into the future.

THE BLACK ARTS MARKET

The Black Arts Market is FOR THE FEM IN YOU’s multidisciplinary cultural marketplace created to intentionally uplift Black artisans, artists, designers, wellness practitioners, makers, creatives, and small businesses through visibility, economic opportunity, and community-centered programming. Originally launched in 2015 under the name Handmade in RVA, the market was created as a space for local makers and independent businesses to connect directly with the community through art, craftsmanship, and intentional commerce. As the program evolved, so did the understanding that Black artisans and creatives were often underrepresented, overlooked, and excluded within many traditional market spaces and entrepreneurial ecosystems. The transition to The Black Arts Market was intentional and necessary — a direct response to the need for Black creatives, makers, and entrepreneurs to be centered, prioritized, protected, and celebrated within spaces that historically benefited from Black culture while often failing to support Black people directly. The market now serves as an immersive cultural experience featuring local artists, live performing artists, wellness activations, DJs, fashion, visual art, handcrafted goods, community resources, and small businesses rooted in creativity and cultural preservation. Through intentional collaboration and accessible community programming, the Black Arts Market continues to create meaningful economic opportunities while encouraging communities to reinvest directly into Black-owned businesses and independent creatives.

THE HOLIDAY SOIREE

The Holiday Soirée is FOR THE FEM IN YOU’s signature end-of-year gathering created to bring together a multicultural conglomerate of people celebrating the many holidays and traditions that take place during the season. Rooted in community, creativity, and intentional connection, the program creates opportunities for local artists, live performing artists, small businesses, and creatives to be meaningfully supported during one of the biggest gift-buying and giving seasons of the year.At its core, the Holiday Soirée is also a call to action—encouraging communities to redirect their dollars away from large corporations and instead reinvest directly into local makers, entrepreneurs, artists, and small businesses. Through live performances, art, immersive décor, community gathering, and intentional commerce, the Holiday Soirée has become a beloved celebration centered around collective joy, cultural exchange, and economic empowerment within the local community.

THE ZEN ZONE

The Zen Zone is FOR THE FEM IN YOU’s signature wellness activation created to provide safe spaces for festival and event attendees to rest, reset, hydrate, and ground themselves during large public gatherings.

Curated specifically to center POC womxn wellness practitioners, the Zen Zone features services such as massage and stretch therapy, reiki, ear acupuncture, tarot, doula resources, movement therapy, and holistic wellness support. Free hydration is also provided throughout the activation while supplies last.

The Zen Zone was created to intentionally increase visibility for marginalized wellness practitioners while prioritizing accessibility, nervous system care, and holistic healing within community spaces. Since its launch, the activation has been featured at multiple festivals and public programs throughout Virginia.