JONATHAN PITTS-WILEY

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Aisha Cort

Jonathan Pitts-Wiley

SONRISA SHINE: Despite her busy schedule, professor and businesswoman Dr. Aisha Cort always finds time to smile.

It’s always fun catching up with old friends, especially when you get to make portraits of them in a season of blessings and abundance. Having known Aisha for over fifteen years, “proud” doesn’t begin to describe the feeling of seeing one of the homies shine. Digital portraits captured on my boy Tom Walsh’s Fuji GFX 50R. Film portraits captured on Ilford Delta 100 and my Pentax 67.

1. Dope Vitals:  My name is Dr. Aisha Z. Cort. I am first generation Cuban- Guyanese-American, born and raised in Boston (middle child of five for my dad; one of one for my mom). Professionally, I'm an entrepreneur, scholar, maker, author, and podcast host. 

 As a scholar/researcher, I am a full-time lecturer of Spanish at Howard University. I earned my BA in Spanish from Yale University, and an MA and PhD in Spanish Literature from Emory University. My research focuses on Afro-Latinx and Latinx film, literature, and cultural production, with a specialization in Afro-Cuban cultural production.

 In 2019, I established Howard University's Afro Cuba Lecture Series and I'm the author of the forthcoming monograph, Representing Race in Revolutionary Cuba: Afrocubanía, Negrometraje, and Cultural Production, 1961-1996 (SUNY Press). Other recent publications include,'The Lost Girl of Havana: A Tale of Afro-Cuban Diasporic Memory' and “Rethinking Caliban: Shakespeare and Césaire in the Negrometraje of Sergio Giral” (Afro-Hispanic Review). Additionally, I'm the guest editor of Black Camera's “Close-up: Contemporary Cuban Cinema” issue (Spring 2020).

2. Dopest Thing Done: The dopest thing I've ever done is bet on myself and jump. I turned my life completely inside out, blocked out the static, and actually listened to myself to leap. Others told me to wait or move in a different direction. I had to believe that the net would appear. It did.  

3. Dopest Thing to Be Done: The single most dope thing that I want to do is keep molding a hybrid life of creative entrepreneurship and scholarship without fear of change.

4. A Dope Fact about Aisha: I am a proud nerd (I've read alllllllll the Game of Thrones books TWICE plus many, many more nerd qualifiers), but I was also prom queen --- balance. I am obsessed with storytelling and how people talk about themselves and/or the stories they tell themselves. People feel unusually comfortable around me, so within an hour, you'll end up telling me your life story and not know why. Again, I enjoy it because I'm obsessed with stories and storytelling. This is such an awkward question! I guess that's my other interesting fact. I'm not dope; I'm really clumsy and dorky, and I tell jokes horribly, so I don't think I'm that dope but I do life on my terms, which is hard as fuck, but definitely dope. I just like to do what makes me happy and I've been lucky so far that all the spinning plates in my life connect.

5. A Dope Life that Inspires You:  My mother. My grandmother. My father. My holy trinity.  Each of them came to this country and started from scratch, stayed connected to their roots and family, while pushing for something greater. I wouldn't be here or have accomplished even a portion of what I've done so far in my life without their guidance and support. I really am a mere reflection of them. I can't put into worthy enough words everything that I've learned and continue to learn from my mother and grandmother, even though they are no longer with us. They were and remain guides, motivators, and home. I still find encouraging notes from my mother randomly, but just when I need them most. My dad is a fountain of life. He pours into each of his children joyfully, even when he's down to his last drop. He's an amazing dude and it's really cool to learn even more about him as an adult. 

6. Where Folks Can Catch You Being Dope:  As an entrepreneur, I run a few businesses including drapersouth, a creative consulting company that is the umbrella for my other businesses --Hey Dr. Cort!, VIVA LA LENGUA Travel, and VELA NEGRA. Through Hey Dr. Cort!, I run the VIVA LA LENGUA™ Spanish language courses and cultural immersion tours in Havana, Cuba, Oaxaca, Mexico, Barcelona, and Tulum (no trips in 2020 though... booo!). VIVA LA LENGUA Travel is a culturally-based, recreational branch of Hey Dr. Cort! and VIVA LA LENGUA™.  I'm also the co-host of the new --like last week new--podcast, Negrometraje.

 VELA NEGRA is my latest business baby and my most personal. VELA NEGRA is a line of black wax, vegan, coconut soy candles. The signature fragrances— Ashé, Azúcar, Coquí, Morena, Rico, Wepa— are inspired by various elements of my Afro-Cuban and Guyanese heritage. Each candle is individually hand-poured using 100% vegan coconut soy wax and ethically-sourced wooden wicks, fragrance, and dye to provide a luxurious and environmentally-conscious clean burn.

Aisha’s Key to Living a Dope Life and Doping Dope Things

I've experienced a lot of loss in this life and each loss just drives home the fact that only YOU can live YOUR life - and you have to LIVE it!