The event closed out Black History Month with a tribute to Black culture, community, and family.
On Sunday, February 25, The Black Family Game Night was hosted in a collaborative partnership with Subject To Change LLC’s Love, Peace & Spades game night and McDonald’s of Southern California. McDonald’s owner and operator, Kerri Harper-Howie, hosted the event in tribute to Black culture, community and family at the McDonald’s restaurant located at the 2838 Crenshaw Blvd. A tent was erected in the parking lot where the young, old and competitive came together to play games that included Uno, Dominoes, and Spades.
“It’s a beautiful day in the Crenshaw District and we’re celebrating the closing of Black History Month with a Black family game night inviting everybody from the community to come and play games with us, kind of check out what we do,” said Kevito Clark, founder of Subject To Change, LLC. “This is like a big coming out for us to be able to do another thing for the community.”
Partnering with Harper-Howie on Black Family Game Night, Clark’s Love, Peace & Spades™, an intellectual property of his business, was a perfect fit for the event.
“Love, Peace & Spades™ is an intergenerational communion through music, tech, education and play. We serve ourselves as a ‘hush harbor’ protective space for us, by us, so that Black people can come in and learn how to play all the Black family classics like Spades, Bid Whist, Tonk, Dominoes and then we offer other games like Uno, Mancala, Chess.”
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“As a part of the McDonald’s owners of Southern California, we try, every month, to host a really unique interesting and different event,” said Harper-Howie. “It’s not a coincidence that this is during Black History Month.”
Harper-Howie continued, “One of the opportunities that came to us through our wonderful agency partners Rogers and Cowan was to throw a Black family game night.”
Families and friends from the surrounding communities came out to play Spades and more to music supplied by DJ Eartha Littt and DJ Kaaos Jones. You could hear the sounds of laughter and cards hitting the table as Joshua J. Pinkay hosted the event alongside actress, comedian, host and social media influencer, Angel Laketa Moore, who’s voice echoed the tent as she and husband, Marcus Tanksley, partook in a game of Spades.
“What do we do as Black people?” said Harper-Howie. “We like to get together, we like to talk smack, we like to win, we like to do things in partnership.
“I was just telling somebody inside, in Spades, your partner, that relationship is something different than any other relationship you might have in your life.”
“I want to say a friend of mine told me about it,” said K. Scott about how he found out about Black Family Game Night. “When I saw the vibe, all that means is keep going, keep on coming out.”
Actress, comedian, host and social media influencer, Angel Laketa Moore plays a game of Spades as her husband, Marcus Tanksley, peaks at her cards. (Brian W. Carter/L.A. Sentinel)“I heard about it from a friend,” said L. Brazile. “I am nervous because this is my first time here but everybody seems great.
“I just feel like it’s the perfect environment for me to play because you know I’m Black and my family let me down by not teaching me Spades when I was young.
“That’s embarrassing, so I feel like this is safe.”
“So, all players are welcome to come and play with us again, we’re a hush harbor so we want you to feel like you can take off your cool, you don’t have to worry about anybody flipping the table over on you,” said Clark.
“You play Spades, Bid Whist, Tonk, Dominoes around people who look like you, who have been through the same experiences and we just want to keep those recipes alive for the next generation.”
“No, for real because you know how it is when you show up at family stuff, if you don’t already know then family is like, ‘Yo Mama’ and I’m like that’s your auntie and then they’ll be like, ‘I don’t care,’” said Brazile.
“We just really wanted to bring this concept to a restaurant in our community this is a predominantly African American-based restaurant, we are surrounded by African American neighborhoods and so we just wanted to have a fun Black family game night,” said Harper-Howie.
For more information on Love, Peace & Spades™, visit www.lovepeaceandspades.com.
