African American Heritage Month

In 1759, the Diamond sailed to unspecified ports in the Americas, Jamaica, Panama, Colombia, and more unspecified destinations in what was then known as the Spanish Caribbean, embarking and disembarking human cargo as part of the slave trade. The Diamond serves as an entry point into a discussion of the movement of Africans and African-descended captives to the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea-bordered regions, the ocean memory of those human cargo lost to the voyages through the Americas, and how that loss reverberates into the present.

Stream films on Kanopy or Hoopla, both on-demand streaming film services. They both have an extensive library of African American cinema and documentaries that are free with your Los Angeles City or Los Angeles County library card.

kanopy.com/en/category/40898?frontend=kui

 hoopladigital.com

The Los Angeles Public Library and the Los Angeles County Library cards give you access to many resources, including two amazing online music collections. Freegal features unlimited songs, and Hoopla lets you check out full albums. These two databases have endless amounts of music from the African and African American diaspora to explore, from famous hits to underground sounds.

hoopladigital.com/search?q=African+American+music&scope=everything&type=direct&kindId=6

freegalmusic.com

Revered master of the upright bass, Christian McBride is also the foremost master of finding new talent and surrounding himself with young musicians. His New Quintet is precisely that. Jazz Club audiences have a rare opportunity to be up close with the acclaimed bandleader, composer, and educator alongside his fresh crop of next-gen superstars.

Marseille, 1941: A liner sails for Martinique with artists and intellectuals on board fleeing from Vichy France, including surrealist André Breton, anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, Cuban painter Wifredo Lam, Communist novelist Victor Serge, and exiled German author Anna Seghers. The journey mixes history with fiction, augments reality, and invites other celebrated figures to join this new kind of ark, an allegory of all past and present forced expeditions.

Gather around our story circle for folktales and songs from Libya, Ghana, and Tanzania for African American and Black History Month. Play your shaker and leg drums as we celebrate together. For ages 5 – 12 with parent or caregiver.

Mayor Karen Bass; Dr. Lura Daniels-Ball, President, Our Authors Study Club, Inc.; Cynthia Exum, President, Leimert Village Park Book Festival; Los Angeles City Council President, Marqueece Harris-Dawson Councilmember, Eighth District; Bob Blumenfield, Councilmember, Third District; Curren D. Price, Jr., Councilmember, Ninth District; Heather Hutt, Councilmember, Tenth District; the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA); Yvonne Wheeler, President Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, General Chair, Our Authors Study Club 2025 African American Heritage Month; and, the Our Authors Study Club 2025 African American Heritage Month Committee invite you to attend an Afternoon with African American Authors.

Our Authors Study Club, Inc. (OASC) and the Leimert Park Village Book Fair hosts the opportunity to hear firsthand from award-winning actor, director and #1 best-selling author Courtney Bernard Vance as he discusses his book The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power. Along with professional expertise from famed psychologist Dr. Robin L. Smith (popularly known as “Dr. Robin”), Courtney B. Vance explores issues of grief, relationships, identity, and race through the telling of his own most formative experiences. A unique combination of moving memoir and practical tools that offers guidance for Black men seeking to reclaim their mental well-being–and, ultimately, to live wholeheartedly.

The presentation will be moderated by William Allen Young, actor, director and philanthropist who has starred in over 100 television, stage, and film projects, including two Academy Award-nominated films, A Soldier’s Story and District 9. 2025 OASC Living Legend Awards will be presented to both Mr. Vance and Mr. Young in honor of their body of work, leadership and personal philanthropy.

Los Angeles Public Library – Mark Taper Auditorium

Parking is $1.00 with a Los Angeles Public Library card in the garage beneath the library, the entrance is on 5th Street. Come early and sign up for your library card if you do not already have one.

The Crenshaw Dairy Mart (CDM) is thrilled to announce its forthcoming exhibition, Free the Land! Free the People! a study of the abolitionist pod, as part of the PST ART: Art & Science Collide. This groundbreaking exhibition showcases CDM’s innovative approach to addressing systemic issues through art, architecture, and science. In 2021, CDM began prototyping and building abolitionist pods – autonomously irrigated, solar-powered gardens within modular geodesic domes – with communities impacted by food insecurity, housing insecurity, and the prison industrial complex.

An in-depth installation of Jean-Michel Basquiat features all 13 works by the artist in the Broad collection, including three works on view for the first time at The Broad: Santo 2, Deaf, and Wicker.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays – 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Thursdays – 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.,
Saturdays and Sundays 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Michael Jackson’s fashion sense has always been iconic. Our display of original artifacts on loan from the Michael Jackson estate showcases memorable pieces, including beaded jackets Jackson wore during the Jacksons’ 1984 Victory tour. Also featured is our original short film about making Jackson’s Thriller music video.

Sundays & Mondays, Wednesdays – Fridays 11:00 noon – 5:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.