NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21 December 2007

Oakland Museum of California Celebrates Black History
Special Programs in January & February 2008

Banished. Photo courtesy Twotoned Productions.

The Oakland Museum of California honors the art, strength, and faith of African Americans, in California and nationwide, with a series of Black History Events, January 8–February 25, 2008. Visit www.museumca.org for details.

PROGRAMS

Tuesday, January 8, 6:30–9 p.m.
Banished. (90 min.) Filmmaker Marco Williams visits three towns that forcibly expelled their entire African American populations after the Civil War, and interviews descendants of families who left their communities and property behind as they fled for their lives. In the still all-white towns (Pierce City, MO; Harrison, AK; and Forsyth County, GA) the echoes of racial injustice continue to reverberate. Film followed by a panel discussion. Plus a showing of The Apollos, a Bay Area Video Coalition documentary by Jazmin Jones and Nick Parker. This youth-produced short chronicles the struggle of a high-school class to pass a bill making Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday.

Presented by the Oakland Museum of California, ITVS Community Cinema, KQED, and the Oakland Film Office. Films followed by panel discussion. Free event with free parking in museum garage (entrance on Oak Street).

Sunday, January 20, 12-5 p.m.
MLK, Jr. Celebration: Faith in California. Honoring the legacy of Dr. King, representatives of religious movements not traditionally followed by African Americans (Black Buddhists, Hare Krishnas, and Muslims) discuss the mix of their cultural and spiritual practices. Enjoy the stirring melodies of South African freedom songs by Vukani Mawethu, a local choir. Visit the new photography exhibition, Trading Traditions: California's New Cultures, which captures how new Californians work, play, and celebrate together. Hands-on activities for the whole family. Free admission made possible by Target.

Friday, February 1, 5–9 p.m.
FIRST FRIDAYS AFTER FIVE. Party at the Oakland Museum of California. Join us for a special celebration of Black History Month with live zydeco music, dancing, curator tours, special exhibitions, a talk by black lesbian Jewelle Gomez about her activism (8 p.m.), spoken word artists Sistahs Wid’ Gaps, African American memoirist Adam David Miller, shopping, yoga, and more. Full cash bar—museum store and café open. All ages welcome.

Tuesday, February 5, 6:30–9 p.m.
Iron Ladies of Liberia. (60 min.) In this intimate biography, filmmakers Henry Ansbacher, Jonathan Stack, and Daniel Junge go behind the scenes with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first freely elected female head of state. Film followed by panel discussion. Free event with free parking in museum garage (entrance on Oak Street).

The ITVS Community Cinema Series at the museum features sneak previews of films scheduled for upcoming broadcast on the PBS series Independent Lens; the series is a collaboration among the City of Oakland, Oakland Film Office, Oakland Museum of California, KQED, and ITVS.

Courtesy Sistas-Wit-Style.

Sunday, February 17, 2 p.m.
The Afro-Caribbean and Black Native American Presence in California. Lonny Shavelson, co-curator and photographer of the Trading Traditions: California’s New Cultures exhibition, leads a discussion with Caribbean historian Val Serrant, Tomi Seon of the “Islands of Fire” dance company, and Don Little Cloud Davenport from the Black Native American Association, on their respective communities’ contributions to California history. Followed by a celebration of Afro-Caribbean and Black/Native American traditions led by the Sistas-Wit-Style dancers and musicians.

Sunday, February 24, 1–4 p.m.
Family Explorations! African-American Rhythms On and Off the Canvas. Join in a lively exploration of African American art, music, and spoken word in celebration of Black History Month. Families can participate in art projects while musicians from UpSurge Jazz perform pieces inspired by African American art, enjoy a storytelling performance with Children’s Cultural Connection, and a special presentation by an artist included in the Artists of Invention: A Century of CCA exhibition. Included with museum admission.

Monday, February 25, 10:30 a.m.
The History of African American Migrant Women During World War II. Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo, chair of the history department at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, leads a discussion about the struggles and successes of thousands of African American women who moved to the East Bay during WWII to work in the region’s war industries. Betty Reid Soskin, community liaison to the Rosie the Riveter World War II/Home Front Project in Richmond, is among the panelists. Free.

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The museum is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10 to 5; Sunday, noon to 5; first Friday of the month until 9. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 seniors and students with ID, and free for museum members, kids five and under, and Oakland City employees. The museum is at 1000 Oak @ 10 th Street, one block from the Lake Merritt BART. For more information, visit www.museumca.org or call 510/238-2200.