Black History Month is an important time of year to celebrate and recognize the achievements of African Americans. It is a time to reflect on the struggles and successes of the past and to look forward to a brighter future. Black History Month Events are taking place across the nation that are recognizing, celebrating and honoring the many contributions and sacrifices Black Americans have made to this country. From performances and lectures to art exhibitions, these events provide an opportunity for people from all backgrounds to come together and celebrate the beauty of Black history, an integral part of all American History.
Monday, February 6, 2023
St. Louis, Missouri: The Ptah Williams Trio: A Tribute to Duke Ellington, Bud Powell and Horace Silver, featuring drummer Demarius Hicks, is playing at the Winifred Moore Auditorium at Webster University in honor of Black History Month.
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Detroit, Michigan: The Detroit Institute of Arts hosts Let the Good Times Roll, a concert that illuminates the joys and complexity of growing up. Underscored by the music of Rock & Roll pioneers and torchbearers from Little Richard to Gary Clark Jr., Let the Good Times Roll is a musical revue that reminds us of the beauty of the present and the promise of the future.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Dallas, Texas: Each month, the Dallas Museum of Art invites guests to see specific works through a pop culture lens. For February, the theme “Wakanda Forever,” inspired by the most recent Black Panther film in the Marvel franchise, includes an African drum circle, a lecture with Dr. Roslyn Walker, DMA Senior Curator of the Arts of Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific, who will discuss the costumes within the rich history of African fashion and more.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Detroit, Michigan: The Wright is presenting a screening of Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space, a biography that explores the life of the influential Black author and anthropologist. The film, directed by Tracy Heather Strain, made its debut in January on PBS.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Boca Raton, Florida: The first stop on the national tour of the landmark exhibition Whitfield Lovell: Passages is at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Organized by the American Federation of Arts (AFA), this is the largest exhibition ever presented of Lovell’s work that focuses on lost African American history. The tour will continue across six states throughout the American South and the Midwest.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Atlanta, Georgia: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to the historic Fox Theatre for five performances, through February 19. Along with Revelations, Alvin Ailey’s most known and cherished work, the production features Survivors, his tribute to South African apartheid activists Nelson and Winnie Mandela, which was last performed on stage in 1989.
Virtual: New York City’s 92nd Street Y hosts an online conversation with Grammy Award-winning rock star Lenny Kravitz as he reflects on the legendary early years of his life in music and his book, Lenny Kravitz: The Formative Years 1989-1993. The book features photographs that captured that magical time when Kravitz recorded and toured for his first three albums: Let Love Rule, Mama Said and Are You Gonna Go My Way. Kravitz will examine how he found his voice, wrote his iconic songs, and evolved into an international star.
Friday, February 17, 2023
Fayetteville, Arkansas: The Arkansas Black Music and Film Expo at Fayetteville Town Center is holding screenings from Emmy-nominated Quinn Grovey and local filmmaker Michael Day of DAYVISION Films, along with a screening of Fire Little America, a documentary that brings together the top musicians and visual artists in Oklahoma to commemorate the centennial of the 1921 Massacre.
Brooklyn, New York: Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet (JGCO) presents REMEMBERING, a multimedia program featuring dance, theater and video projection inspired by “The MAAFA Suite” and the teachings of Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This year’s performance commemorates the 60th anniversary of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington and his historic “I Have a Dream” speech and recognizes the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama that took the lives of four little girls. The work is set to music by John Williams, Philip Hamilton and BeBe Winans.
Saturday, February 18, 2023
Chicago, Illinois: As part of its “Black Resistance Through Art” series, Apple Michigan Ave. hosts an inspiring drum workshop and performance featuring Azania Drum. The Chicago-based musicians will play a live set of rhythmic beats in the tradition of West African music using the djembe and dundun.
Harlem, New York: The Apollo will present the world premiere performance of The Blues and Its People, featuring seven newly commissioned works by contemporary jazz trumpeter Russell Gunn, to honor the 60th anniversary of Amiri Baraka’s seminal text Blues People: Negro Music in White America. The Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, Grammy award-winning vibraphonist Stefon Harris, trombonist Craig Harris, saxophonist Oliver Lake, West African Djembe drummer Weedie Braimah, Piano Prince of New Orleans Davell Crawford, and poet Jessica Care Moore are also performing.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Los Angeles, California: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosts local artists Dale Brockman Davis and Alison Saar, along with Carol Eliel, senior curator of Modern Art, for a wide-ranging conversation about art making, history, politics and museums.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Tuskegee, Alabama: Tuskegee University is recognizing Black History Month with its annual Black History Month Lecture Series. Fred McBride of Southern Poverty Law Center and Guy Trammell of Tuskegee Youth Safe Haven join moderator Monyai Chavers, assistant professor of Political Science, to discuss voter suppression.
Sunday, February 26, 2023
New York, New York: Mama, I Want To Sing! , the longest-running Black off-Broadway musical in the history of American theater, returns home for a 40th-anniversary limited engagement. Media personality Vy Higginsen’s charming musical is based on the life of her sister Doris Troy, who recorded the 1963 hit “Just One Look.” The musical returns to El Museo’s El Teatro Theater, formerly known as the Heckscher Theater, where it ran for eight years over 2,800 performances.
