NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1 December 2008

Oakland Museum of California Host Black History Events
December 2008 to April 09

Paul Robeson. Photo Gordon Parks.

The Oakland Museum of California's Black History Events promote inclusion and an understanding of African American life, leaders, and culture, Dec 5, 2008-Apr 25, 2009. See http://www.museumca.org/ for details. Events are included with admission unless marked otherwise.

Friday, December 5, 7 p.m.
The Piano Lesson. See August Wilson's The Piano Lesson presented by Laney Theater Arts & The Fusion Theater Company under the direction of Michael Torres. Come early for the museum's FIRST FRIDAYS AFTER FIVE. Catch the Larry Vann Band in the café. Full cash bar-café and museum store open. All ages welcome.

Sunday, January 18, 12-4 p.m.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Day: A King and an Emperor. The similarities between the lives of Dr. King and political activist, athlete, singer/actor Paul Robeson are highlighted by Paul Von Blum, senior lecturer in African American Studies at UCLA. Program includes performances by spoken-word artist Ise Lyfe, baritone Autris Paige, and Jetaun Maxwell from Dance Theater of the Gospel. Families can make their own front pages from African American newspapers of the King and Robeson eras. In collaboration with the Bay Area Paul Robeson Centennial Committee.

Friday, February 6, 5-9 p.m.
FIRST FRIDAYS AFTER FIVE. Live music in the café. Gallery talk by Loren Holland, a featured artist in the L.A. PAINT exhibition. Panel discussion "Inside/Out: The Voices of Black Immigrants," a discussion with Afro-Mexican, Afro-Honduran, and Belizean immigrants about their experiences and challenge sin California. Presented with BAJI: Black Alliance for Just Immigration. Full cash bar-museum store and café open. All ages welcome. eum of California, KQED, and ITVS.

Dr. Amina Mama. Courtesy African Gender Institute.

Sunday, February 8, 2 p.m.
Feminist Leadership: From Africa to America. Dr. Amina Mama, Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women's Leadership at Mills College, discusses her life as a feminist scholar and political activist for women's rights around the world. Sponsored by the Piedmont League of Women Voters and the museum's History Guild. Meet Dr. Mama at a reception after the talk. Free Second Sundays are sponsored by Wells Fargo and the City of Oakland.

Sunday, February 15, 1-4:30 p.m.
Family Explorations! African American Rhythms: Oakland by the Bayou. Black History Month comes alive Louisiana-style with music, food, and activities. Families can make Carnival masks, headdresses, and beads and take part in a Mardi Gras-style parade. There is a long history of migration from Louisiana to California today's program celebrates the rich history and cultural contributions of Louisianans.

Saturday, February 21, 1-4 p.m.
The Big Read Kick-Off. Oakland readers of all ages are invited to participate in a month of events inspired by Ernest Gaines's award-winning novel A Lesson Before Dying. Celebrate the start of this exciting initiative with music, discussion, giveaways, refreshments, and fun. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Midwest, and California State University East Bay, with the museum and the Oakland Public Library.

Sunday, March 15, 2-4 p.m.
Allensworth: California's African American Town. The historic agricultural community founded in 1908 by Colonel Allen Allensworth, who was born into slavery, escaped to freedom, and rose to become an officer and later chaplain in the Union Army. Hear the inspiring story of the town's founding and its preservation, restoration, and revival as a State Historic Park. Presenters include Susan Anderson, curator of the exhibit Allensworth: 100 Years of the California Dream; Mickey Ellinger and Scott Braley, authors of Allensworth, The Freedom Colony; Alice C. Royal, who was born in Allensworth in 1923 and collected histories of former residents for the book; and historian Guy Washington from the National Park Service.

Wednesday, March 25, 6 p.m.
Taking Root.* Filmmakers Lisa Merton and Alan Dater tell the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy. Free.

Wednesday, April 22, 6 p.m.
Made in America.* Filmmaker Stacy Peralta interviewed members of the Crips and Bloods in this examination of the devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles. Free.

*The ITVS Community Cinema Series will be shown captioned and panel discussions following the film will be ASL interpreted by DEAF Media. Free parking in museum garage (entrance on Oak Street). The ITVS Community Cinema Series at the museum features previews of films scheduled for upcoming broadcast on the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. The series is presented by Oakland Museum of California and ITVS with the Oakland Film Office, KQED Education Network, DEAF Media, and Hands On Bay Area.

Saturday, April 25, 6 p.m.
Benjamin T. Jealous. The 35-year-old former Alameda resident was named president and CEO of the NAACP in 2007, the youngest leader in the organization's 100-year history. Mr. Jealous has led the U.S. Human Rights Program at Amnesty International, the Claude and Louise Rosenberg Foundation, and the NNPA, a national federation of 200 black community newspapers. He will discuss his vision for the NAACP. Free.

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Oakland Museum of California 1000 Oak @ 10th Street, in Oakland, is one block from the Lake Merritt BART. Museum hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 to 5; Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 to 9. Admission is $8 for adults; $5 seniors and students with ID; free for members, City of Oakland employees, and kids five and under. Wells Fargo Second Sundays are free. Call 510/238-2200 or visit www.museumca.org for more information.