Pasadena Black History Month: A Wide Array of Programs

The City of Pasadena will commemorate Black History Month in February by recognizing the achievements and contributions of African Americans and their central role in our nation’s history.

By News Desk

Pasadena Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, Pasadena Public Library, Pasadena Black History Committee, and The Friends of the Pasadena Public Library are offering a series of in-person and virtual programs, events, and activities for all ages in the month of February. All programs and events are free.

These are programs that will be available all month:

• “Celebrating Diversity Through Photography” Exhibit
  Artist Alfred Haymond is a self-taught photographer whose approach is described simply as “The art of finding those mundane occurrences happening all around us and visually documenting them.”
  Feb. 1 – 28
  Hastings Branch Library
  3325 E. Orange Grove Blvd.
  
• People, Places, and Events Shaped by African-Americans
  Take a virtual tour beginning February 1 at cityofpasadena.net/parks-and-rec with local community members as they provide information on landmarks, educational institutions, sports, businesses, and other areas of interest impacted by Black Pasadenans.
  Feb. 1 – 28 • City Website

A wide array of events:

• Black History Breakfast
  Hosted by NOBLE, Black Fire Fighters Association, and Pasadena Black Municipal Employees Association
  All are welcome to join the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), the Black Fire Fighters Association and the Pasadena Black Municipal Employees Association (PBMEA) as they kick off Black History Month by recognizing the accomplishments of African Americans, both locally and nationally, who continue to shape our society for generations of the future. This event will feature pancakes made by Pasadena Firefighters Association, entertainment, raffles, and will include keynote speaker Phyllis Currie, former General Manager of Pasadena Water and Power.
  Thursday, Feb 2
  8:00 am – 10:30 am
  Pasadena Senior Center
  85 E. Holly St.
• Alkebulan Cultural Center Black History Celebrations
  Join the AlkebuIan Cultural Center as they celebrate African American History Month. The programming for the month includes featured artist Kenneth Gatewood, a genealogy workshop, Capoeira lecture, book talks, Pfamily Steppers senior dance performance, the first annual Black Arts Festival, and more! Please contact the Alkebulan Cultural Center at (626) 807-4006 for more information on specific activities, dates, and times.
  Feb. 5 – 25
  Alkebulan Cultural Center
  1425 N. Raymond Ave.
• Hill Avenue Book Club
  In February, Hill Avenue Book Club will discuss two books about a unique librarian, Belle da Costa Green: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Belle Greene by Alexandra LaPierre.
  Saturday, Feb. 11
  10:30 am
  Zoom: Sign up here.
• 41st Annual Black History Parade and Festival
  Celebrating Our Excellence “The Legacy of Councilmember John J. Kennedy”
  Southern California’s largest and longest-running Black History Parade begins at Fair Oaks Ave. and Mountain View St. and ends at Robinson Park, with bands, drill and drum teams, community organizations, celebrities and dignitaries. Grand Marshal will be award-winning sportscaster Jim Hill. The festival at Robinson Park features live bands, dance performances, community booths, guest speakers, food for purchase, and tons of fun!
  Saturday, Feb. 18
  10:00 am – 4:00 pm
  Robinson Park
  1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave.
• African Talking Drums
  Listen, learn and participate in Chazz’s world of African Drums, the “heart-beat of all music.”  Presented by Chazz Ross. For all ages.
  Tuesday, Feb. 21
  1:00 pm
  La Pintoresca Branch Library
  1355 N. Raymond Ave.
• Black History Movie Night [Cancelled due to rain]
  Free family-friendly movie showing in celebration of Black History Month. Bring your lawn chair or picnic blanket to sit back and watch Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever. Live music begins at 5 p.m. and food will be available for purchase. The movie begins at dusk at Centennial Square in front of City Hall.
  Friday, Feb. 24
  5:00 pm
  Pasadena City Hall
  100 N. Garfield Ave.
  Pre-registration recommended: cityofpasadena.net/reserve.

Activities for everyone:

Children

• Beautiful Blackbird
  Celebrate Black History Month by listening to the story Beautiful Blackbird, written by Ashley Bryan. Then make a special craft to take home. For ages 3-5.
  Thursday, Feb. 16
  10:30 am
  Lamanda Park Branch Library
  140 N. Altadena Dr.
• Garrett Morgan, the American Inventor of the Traffic Signal
  In celebration of Black History Month, we are highlighting Garrett Morgan. Join us as we read Karyn Parsons’ book Saving the Day: Garrett Morgan’s Life-Changing Invention of the Traffic Signal and share the impact this man made around the world. We will highlight his life, play a game of red-light green-light and then make a traffic light craft to take home. For ages 5–12.
  Thursday, Feb. 9
  2:30 pm
  San Rafael Branch Library
  1240 Nithsdale Rd.

Teens/Adults

• Donzaleigh Abernathy: Partners to History:
  Reverend Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Sr. and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were inseparable, and together  they helped to establish the modern American Civil Rights Movement. They preached, marched, and were frequently jailed together. Donzaleigh Abernathy, Ralph’s youngest daughter, has written Partners to History as a testament to the courage, strength and endurance of these men. She also pays tribute to the thousands of other partners to this history, those who were foot soldiers in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality. Saturday, Feb. 4
  2:00 pm
  Lamanda Park Branch Library
  140 S. Altadena Dr.
• Discover Pasadena’s Sister City, Dakar, Senegal
  Take a journey with us to Dakar-Plateau, Senegal, with our guide, Pasadena City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris. Michele visited our Sister City on a recent trip focused on reconnecting Africans in the Diaspora with African Americans, specifically in Pasadena. Michele will share stories, photos and videos of her trip to Dakar-Plateau and other interesting areas in Senegal. Join us in-person or on Zoom.
  Wednesday, Feb. 8
  5:00 pm
  Hastings Branch Library
  3325 E. Orange Grove Blvd.
  Zoom: Sign up here.
• Pasadena Rose Poets Celebrate Black History Month
  We create and share stories of Black lives, even when life takes a deep dive. We are connected to our heritage along a pathway, which strengthens our voices again and again over centuries, years, months, weeks, days, minutes and seconds. This session features poetry by Pasadena Rose Poets Teresa Mei Chuc, Damian, Kate Gale, Hazel Clayton Harrison, Gerda Govine Ituarte, Shahé Mankerian, Toni Mosley, Carla Sameth and Annette Wong.
  Thursday, Feb. 9
  5:00 pm
  Zoom: Sign up here.
• Hill Avenue Book Club
  In February, Hill Avenue Book Club will discuss two books about a unique librarian, Belle da Costa Green: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Belle Greene by Alexandra LaPierre.
  Saturday, Feb. 11
  10:30 am
  Zoom: Sign up here.
• Notable Black Scientist Buttons and Bookmarks
  Celebrate the contributions that Black American scientists have made by collecting three commemorative buttons and bookmarks. While supplies last.
  Tuesday, Feb. 14
  10:00 am
  La Pintoresca Branch Library
  1355 N. Raymond Ave.
• Dr. Alaina Roberts: I’ve Been Here All the While, Black Freedom on Native Land
  Perhaps no other symbol has more resonance in African American history than that of “40 acres and a mule” – the lost promise of Black reparations for slavery after the Civil War. In I’ve Been Here All the While, we meet the Black people who received this mythic 40 acres, the American settlers who coveted this land, and the Native Americans whose holdings it originated from.
  Thursday, Feb. 16
  4:00 pm
  Zoom: Sign up here.
  
• Lift Every Voice: An Evening with Angeline Butler, a Powerful Voice of the Civil Rights Movement
  Join us for a conversation about resistance with Angeline Butler, the celebrated singer, actress, playwright, producer, instructor and student organizer for Civil Rights during her teens. She was one of the first students to be jailed for their nonviolent resistance. Jackie Robinson called her “one of the first ‘sit-in’ leaders of the Nashville Movement.” Butler’s career as a singer and actor spanned many decades, and over seven countries. She is currently a lecturer in Africana Studies at the John Jay College for Criminal Justice in New York. She will be joining us on Zoom. You can view her talk on a big screen at Hastings Branch Library. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions. To attend on Zoom, sign up at https://pasadena.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?EventId=7298.
  Thursday, Feb. 16
  6:00 pm
  Hastings Branch Library
  3325 E. Orange Grove Blvd.
  Zoom: Sign up here.
• Quilt Block Portraits
  In honor of Black History Month, make a quilt block portrait in celebration of the Quilting Women of Gee’s Bend Alabama. Fabric, fusible web and other materials will be utilized. For inspiration, bring a reference photo of your favorite pet, person or subject. Materials provided by REMAINDERS Creative Reuse, an upcycle depot focused on sustainability and reuse of creative materials. For ages 13+. To sign up call (626) 744-7272.
  Saturday Feb. 18
  2:30 pm
  Santa Catalina Branch Library
  999 E. Washington Blvd.

• Allendale Book Discussion Group
  The Allendale Book Discussion Group will discuss Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, at the.  Allendale Branch Library, 1130 S. Marengo Ave.
  Saturday, Feb. 18
  10:30 am

• West Pasadena Book Discussion Group
  West Pasadena Book Discussion Group will meet to discuss The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton in celebration of Black History Month. They will meet at the Linda Vista Branch Library, 1281 Bryant St.
  Saturday, Feb. 18
  11:0 am
• Toni Ann Johnson – Light Skin Gone to Waste: Stories
  Winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, author Toni Ann Johnson draws from experiences with racism and bad parenting in a new short story collection, Light Skin Gone to Waste. Her novella Homegoing was a semi-finalist for the William Faulkner Wisdom Award in fiction. Remedy For a Broken Angel earned Johnson a 2015 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author.
  Wednesday, Feb. 22
  5:00 pm
  Zoom: Sign up here.
• Kimberly Cox Marshall – Making Revolution: My Life In the Black Panther Party
  Making Revolution is Don Cox’s revelatory, even incendiary, account of his years in the Black Panther Party. He participated in many peaceful Bay Area civil rights protests but hungered for more militant action. His book tells the story of his work as the party’s field marshal in charge of gunrunning to planning armed attacks—tales which are told for the first time in this remarkable memoir. His daughter Kimberly will join us in-person to talk about her father and his life in the Black Panther Party. Books will be available for sale and signing.
  Friday, Feb. 24
  5:00 pm
  Hastings Branch Library
  3325 E. Orange Grove Blvd.