Her Mission Is to Uplift Hawai‘i’s Black Community

Amy Benson founded Afro Aloha as a multifaceted cultural hub for Black people in Hawaiʻi – sharing their stories and helping them connect.

“Blackness is expansive, especially here in Hawaiʻi,” she says. “A lot of people are bicultural and they’re Black and Japanese, Black and Hawaiian, or Black and Filipino… We’re shedding a light on those that are Black in Hawaiʻi and navigating those identities and cultures.”

Beginnings: Benson, the company’s executive director and only employee, says she started Afro Aloha in 2020, during the Covid pandemic, to build a community where Black people could feel heard, seen and safe.

“This was during the height of a lot of injustice in the continental U.S. and across the globe. You had the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and so there was a very heightened climate that was happening in 2020 especially with the pandemic.”

Photos by: Afro Aloha

Activities: She launched the Afro Aloha podcast in 2023, which spotlights entrepreneurs, scholars, performers and creatives. “It’s Hawaiʻi’s only media outlet dedicated to sharing Black stories and amplifying Black voices of the past and the present.”

She also organized the Dripniq Festival, an annual celebration of food, music, fashion and culture, held in 2025 on the Bishop Museum lawn. Other events have included the Hawaiʻi Black Entrepreneur Awards, Black Is Art and Honolulu Black Pride. A monthly newsletter has over 4,500 subscribers and Benson plans to restart a membership program in 2026.

“Over the past five years, we’ve worked with over 250 black businesses and creatives and entrepreneurs and we work with several communities all across Hawaiʻi. We’ve been a launching pad or cohort for many of these entrepreneurs in Hawaiʻi.”

Misconceptions: The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Blacks represent about 1.5% to 2% of Hawaiʻi’s population.

“One of the stereotypes is that anyone who is Black in Hawaiʻi is in the military, and that’s just not accurate. … If you are Black in Hawaiʻi, people often assume – wrongly – that you’re somehow an outsider or not truly part of the local community.”

Photos by: Afro Aloha

Impact: “People tell us, ‘My experience in Hawaiʻi has completely changed. Afro Aloha has changed my life. It’s made me think about my identity in a new way. I see myself represented here in ways I never have before.'”