For the 74th consecutive year, the City of Los Angeles and Our Authors Study Club are uniting to present a variety of events to observe African American Heritage Month.
Mayor Karen Bass assembled a committee headed by Public Works Commissioner Mike Davis and OASC President Lura Daniels-Ball to present free programs for all ages to be held at venues throughout the city.
Danny J. Bakewell, Jr. is the honorary chair for citywide celebration, Wendy Raquel Robinson is the ambassador for the OASC Carter G. Woodson Oratorical Contest, and William Allen Young will serve as a contest judge.
Activities kick-off on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m., with a roundtable discussion on “African Americans and the Arts” at the Public Works Chamber in L.A. City Hall. Marc Brown, co-anchor of ABC7 Eyewitness News, will moderate the program.
The panelists include Dr. Maulana Karenga, chair of Africana Studies at CSU- Long Beach; Dr. Brenda Stevenson, professor, historian and author of African American Studies at UCLA; Dr. Salim Faraji, professor and former chair of Africana Studies at CSU – Dominguez Hills; Dr. Boris Ricks, director of the Center for Southern California Studies at CSU – Northridge; and Dr. Francille Rusan Wilson, professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, History, Gender and Sexuality Studies at USC.
The official opening ceremony takes place on Friday, Feb. 2, at L.A. City Hall. At 10 a.m., the City Council and Postmaster Jeremie Six will unveil the 2024 Black Heritage Stamp honoring Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court and the first to serve as a federal judge.
Another program saluting four outstanding individuals will be held on the south lawn of City Hall at 12 p.m. The 2024 Hall of Fame honorees are Mamie Hansberry, visual artist and activist; Freda Payne, singer, actress, and author; Dr. Elaine Batchelor, CEO of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Healthcare; Dr. Harry Elam, president of Occidental College; and Charmaine Jefferson, owner of Kélan Resources and chairman of the California Institute of the Arts Board of Trustees.
OASC will present its annual bus tour of Black historical landmarks in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 10, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The free event features visits to the Biddy Mason Wall, Sugar Hill, the Island, Central Avenue, Leimert Park and other locations throughout the city.
Artist and Angelino Mark Steven Greenfield will be recognized as a city trailblazer during a reception on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m., at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, 125 Paseo de la Plaza, in downtown Los Angeles.
The AAHM worship service takes place on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 10 a.m., at First AME Church, 2270 S. Harvard Blvd., in Los Angeles. The Rev. Robert Shaw is the senior pastor.
On Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m., “An Evening with African American Authors” will be held at the Public Works Chambers in L.A. City Hall. Featured are Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter, professor of Sociology and African American Studies at UCLA and author of “Radical Reparations – Healing the Soul of a Nation;” and Pamela Samuels Young, an attorney, award-winning mystery writer, and author of “Abuse of Discretion.”
The OASC Carter G. Woodson Oratorical Contest is asset for Saturday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m., at the Airport Police Community Center, 9160 South Loyola Blvd., in Los Angeles. Finalists will orally deliver their original essays to a panel of judges, who rate the participants on content, presentation, and persuasion.
The city’s monthlong observance will conclude with “Keeping the City Moving,” an in-person buildwith matchmaking event. The program will be held at the Roy A. Anderson Recreation Center, 3980 Bill Robertson Lane, in Exposition Park.
To learn more, visit oascla.org.
