African American Heritage Month

The Boyz N the Hood gallery explores the movie’s groundbreaking depiction of Black life in South Central Los Angeles and its lasting impact on popular culture. It spotlights the cast and crew–including Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, and Angela Bassett–showing the pivotal role the film played not only in their careers but also for a new generation of Black talent in Hollywood.

The PAFF ArtFEST showcases over 100 established and emerging artists and craftspeople from around the world, focusing on artistic expressions rooted in Africa and its Diaspora. Featured works include oil paintings, watercolors, ceramics, jewelry, fashion, home decor, and more, highlighting both fine art and unique crafts.

The Compton Art & History Museum opened to the public this year, just months after its two founders, the husbandand- wife duo Abigail Lopez-Byrd and Marquell Byrd, came together with a vision for the space. “We have archives from Compton from the 1960s and 1970s that the youth can now come and see without having to go to neighboring cities or somewhere deep in LA that don’t represent who they are or where they come from,” says Co-founder Marquell Byrd.

A one-woman show highlighting the cumulative work of Robin Strayhorn using various mediums. Strayhorn is a multidisciplinary artist residing in Los Angeles for the past 40 years. Some other most recent work reflects time spent living and studying in India. There will be an Artist Talk/Reception on February 9, check the website for details.

Join Mayor Karen Bass; Dr. Lura Daniels-Ball, President, Our Authors Study Club, Inc.; 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 to officially commemorate and celebrate the opening of African American Heritage Month in the City of Los Angeles.

At this in-person celebration, presentations will be made to the 2025 Living Legends Honorees: Richard Brooks, Pioneering Artist, Emmy-nominated Actor; and, George Weaver, Environmental Policy Innovator and Architect of Youth Hope, Brotherhood Crusade, and 2025 Hall of Fame Honorees: Dr. Mike Davis, President of New Frontier Democratic Club; Lynell George, Grammy Award-winning Writer, and Guardian of African American Narratives; Darnell Hunt, Dean and Executive Vice Chancellor, UCLA, and Author; Cecily Myart-Cruz, President, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA); Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Dean of Charles Drew University College of Medicine, Founding Dean CDU MD Program; Dr. Jessie L. Sherrod, Pioneering Physician and Founder LA Association of Black Women Physicians (ABWP); and, Dr. Richard Allen Williams, Pioneering Cardiologist, Healthcare Equity Advocate, and Cultural Innovator, The Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s national theme for Black History Month is African Americans and Labor. We honor this theme and salute the present and past members of Our Authors Study Club, Inc., who first partnered with the City 75 years ago in 1950 to celebrate our history of accomplishment and resilience while looking forward to the future to excite and encourage others to join in keeping Black history alive and vibrant. [Read the full executive summary on the 2025 theme: African Americans and Labor online at asalh.org.]

In partnership with Jeremie Six, the 41st Postmaster of Los Angeles, the Postal Service will unveil the 2025 Black History Month Stamp. The 48th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Allen Toussaint (1938-2015), award-winning artist, legendary New Orleans writer, singer, producer, songwriter, arranger, session pianist, and solo artist.

Council Program: Friday, February 7, 2025, 10:00 a.m.,
Reception: Friday, February 7, 2025, 12:00 noon, West Forecourt

Join Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson; Mayor Karen Bass; the Los Angeles City Council; and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) to officially celebrate the exhibition installation of the work of Los Angeles photographer, Leroy Hamilton in DCA’s Henry P. Rios Gallery at Los Angeles City Hall on display from Friday, January 31, 2025 to February 26, 2025.

The Story of Us displays Black Angelenos in several dimensions of their lives—at home with family, in the conference room, on the court, in government halls of power, on the mainstage, in the streets, and in places of worship. It captures the fullness of Black life. Mr. Hamilton seeks to restore the humanity behind Black faces that are often misrepresented. Visitors will experience the full spectrum of Black personhood through the lens of a local artist with strategic connections and expansive vision.

The Story of Us is Leroy Hamilton’s exhibit which he hopes will reverberate across the country. By capturing a collection of photos of Black Angelenos, the artist hopes to draw parallels between movement building in Black Los Angeles to national Black movements. Mr. Hamilton hopes to remind visitors that there is a community photographer in every community, and we must recommit ourselves to seeking them out and uplifting their work. The photography exhibit is an ode to Black Los Angeles and all we represent in the past, present, and future–from Crenshaw to the coast, this is The Story of Us.

The exhibition is curated and coordinated by Larry Earl.

Photography Exhibition: January 31, 2025 through February 26, 2025

The exhibition is free to visit and open to the public.

Ribbon Cutting: Friday, February 7, 2025, 9:30 a.m.

The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is proud to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the partnership of the Our Authors Study Club (OASC). Since its founding in 1945, OASC has been dedicated to uplifting Black culture and literature, promoting the works of Black authors, scholars, and artists, and fostering an environment of learning, inspiration, and cultural pride.

For eight decades, OASC has played a pivotal role in curating events that honor the contributions of African Americans to the cultural, social, and intellectual fabric of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles has a long-standing partnership with OASC, which annually hosts one of the city’s most significant Black History Month celebrations.

The milestone celebration will feature a series of special events, including art exhibitions, discussions with authors, conversations with cultural leaders, a worship service, bus tours
of historic sites, and an oratorical contest. In addition, the 2025 African American Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide, produced by the Department of Cultural Affairs, includes many free and low-cost events and activities for all ages.

On Friday, February 7, 2025, join us for the 2025 Black History Month opening ceremonies at Los Angeles City Hall. At 9:30 a.m., a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Bridge Gallery opens the photo exhibition The Story of Us by Leroy Hamilton.

Then at 10:00 a.m., in the John Ferraro Council Chamber, room 340, the City Council honors African American Distinguished Leaders. Presentations will be made to:

2025 Living Legends Honorees:
George Weaver, Environmental Policy Innovator and Architect of Youth Hope;
Richard Brooks, Pioneering Artist, Emmy-Nominated Actor, Entrepreneur and

2025 Hall of Fame Honorees:
Cecily Myart-Cruz, President United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), Pioneering
Woman Education Leader and Labor Justice Champion;
Lynell George, Cultural Chronicler, Grammy Award-Winning Writer

At 11:30 a.m., the celebration moves to the West Forecourt in City Hall, for Celebrating Our Champions: The Community Gathers. This portion of the celebration offers limited seating. A FREE RSVP is highly recommended. RSVP here! 

This event is FREE and open to the public.

For more information, call (213) 770-0399.

You can meet with an attorney for free to discuss foreclosure and debt collection issues. Walk-ins welcome.

This public event brings three historians of slavery together—one focused on the importance of slavery to colonial empires, one focused on captive experiences and health in the slave trade, and one focused on the introduction of African maritime culture into the Americas—to wrestle with the question: What actually happened in 1619?

The Intra-American Slave Trade Database is a resource for the study of the African diaspora in the Americas. Launched online in 2018, it documents more than 27,000 voyages that trafficked enslaved Africans and African-descended people from one part of the Americas to another from 1550 to 1860. This database strengthens research throughout the University of California system on the history and impact of the slave trade and slavery in the Americas by connecting scholarship on the Atlantic and Pacific Worlds.