Danielle Hall

I’m not one of those individuals who says don’t celebrate the 4th, as a matter of fact enjoy it, get you a plate or two, spend time with family, live life BUT never, never forget the price that was paid for us to enjoy even these liberties. The first African slaves arrived in this country in 1619; the Declaration of Independence July 4,1776; slavery was not officially abolished (on paper) until…

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It’s Super Bowl 50 weekend, but it’s also Black History Month too! Who says you can’t do both? When you’re in the muhfuggin‘ Bay/Yay Area–often described as one of America’s most diverse and thriving artistic and cultural hubs–there are no limits of things to do and explore. With all the Super Bowl festivities going on, including parties hosted by Diddy, Rick Ross, and others, don’t let that stop you from taking full advantage of all that the Bay Area has to offer, including its rich Black history and culture that more than Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party (though worthy of exploration and celebration).

Of course, you can visit the standard tourist attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge or Alcatraz Island, but if have the time and are looking to mix in a bit of Black history with Super Bowl madness you should definitely consider visiting one of these sites below:

The Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco | @moadsf

Alison Saar, Undone, 2012; fiberglass, cotton dress, found chair and objects from the Bearing exhibit. (Photo by Danielle Hall, taken at MOAD)

Passport from Jamaica, 1919

  African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco | (@aaaccsf)

Joyce Gordon Gallery in downtown Oakland, CA.

Joyce Gordon, gallerist/owner of the Joyce Gordon Gallery in downtown Oakland, California. Gordon has been praised as a “key thread” in Oakland’s arts scene. (Photo by Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

                          African American Museum and Library in downtown Oakland

Marcus Books in Oakland, CA is an historic independent Black bookstore, opened in the 1960s, specializing in titles by & about Black people.

Digital Blackness: Googling Black History Just Got Over 5,000 Clicks Better

Take me into the museum and show me myself, show me my people, show me soul America. – June Jordan, 1969

African American couple ca. 1950 (Photo courtesy of George Eastman Museum / Google Cultural Institute)

It’s that time again. You know, February, the month when Black churches, libraries, museums and other cultural institutions across the country host a variety of events and public programs to…

D’Angelo and the Return of the Black Messiah

Tonight D’Angelo and The Vanguard’s newest album, Black Messiah, was released through iTunes. If you ever needed proof of Divine timing, this is it. Black Messiah is the first album in fourteen years to be released by the R&B and soul singer. Judging by the wide ranging posts on twitter and Instagram under the hashtag #blackmessiah, D’Angelo fans and music lovers in general are more than…

Alabama Prison Book Project

My good friend and sista-scholar, Briana Whiteside, is currently a Ph. D. student in the English Department at the University of Alabama, but one of the most fulfilling aspects of her journey has been teaching inside Alabama prisons. Through the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project (APAEP), Briana teaches African American literature in medium and maximum security prisons. Sharing her…

#StraightOuttaArchives | Talib Kweli Tours Cornell University’s Hip Hop & Rare Books Collection

In case you missed it, Talib Kweli recently shared his tour of Cornell University’s Hip Hop and Rare Books Collection located in the Carl A. Kroch Library, giving all of his followers an inside look at historic Hip Hop artifacts from the university’s Hip Hop Collection. Kweli took to social media sharing photos of Afrika Bambaataa’s DJ set criminal justice notebook from 1977 as well as…