Located at Exposition Park in Downtown L.A., the California African American Museum (CAAM) exists to research, collect, preserve and interpret the history, art and culture of African Americans. The museum's permanent collection houses 4,000 objects that span landscape painting and portraiture, modern and contemporary art, historical objects and print materials, and mixed-media artworks.

Black History Month programs at CAAM include:

• "Race Relay" (Feb. 8-10) - Presented in conjunction with Los Angeles Freedom Rally, 1963, "Race Relay" is an interactive theatrical production that explores race today.
• Activating Artists: Know Your Rights (Feb. 12) - Also presented in conjunction with Los Angeles Freedom Rally, 1963, Activating Artists helps participants understand best practices when confronted by police, potential consequences of civil disobedience actions, and other legal issues surrounding acts of creative public activism.
• Black Composers Songversation (Feb. 13) - Presented in partnership with the LA Phil and the William Grant Still Arts Center, the evening includes live music and a conversation between pianist Aaron Diehl and Ami Motevalli, director of the William Grant Still Arts Center.
• Star System Jewelry Workshop (Feb. 16) - Inspired by the magical Afro-futuristic themes exhibited in Robert Pruitt - Devotion, attendees will make their own astronomy-based beaded necklace or bracelet and learn more about our place in the universe. Ages 5 and up. Space is limited, RSVP required.
• On Film, Art, and Music with Gary Simmons (Feb. 16) - LA-based artist Gary Simmons, who created the Fade to Black installation in the CAAM atrium, will be joined by special guests to discuss film, architecture, and American popular culture.
• What the world needs is… (Feb. 17) - Think about how you would complete the phrase “What the world needs is...” with a symbol or words, then make it into a poster. Presented in conjunction with Los Angeles Freedom Rally, 1963. Ages 7 and up.
• CAAM Reads! (Feb. 17) - CAAM’s monthly book club continues this winter with titles selected in conjunction with The Notion of Family, which includes artworks from the 19th to the 21st centuries that chart a generational trajectory of African American family and togetherness. February's selection is The Bond: Three Young Men Learn to Forgive and Reconnect with Their Fathers, written by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt.
• In Conversation: Paul Mpagi Sepuya and Eve Xelestiál Moreno-Luz (Feb. 21) - In conjunction with The Notion of Family, artists Eve Xelestiál Moreno-Luz and Paul Mpagi Sepuya discuss the changing, fluid meaning of family, moving beyond the biological and historical definition to consider the concept and importance of “chosen family,” specifically for LGBTQIA+ communities and marginalized people.
• Leveraging Influence: Black Celebrity & Activism (Feb. 26) - Legendary hip-hop artist KRS-One and history curator Tyree Boyd-Pates examine how black celebrity and activism have been instrumental in leveraging influence. KRS-One is a longtime activist against police brutality, the over-commercialization of rap music, and other platforms that impact urban communities.

LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY (FEBRUARY 2019)
Numerous branches of the Los Angeles Public Library are hosting events for African American Heritage Month, including movie screenings, family storytime, arts & crafts, and panel discussions. Highlights include:

• "Mama Africa" screening at Ascot Branch (Feb. 2)
• "Red Tails," the story of the Tuskegee Airmen at Sunland-Tujunga (Feb. 3)
• Teen Book Club: "The Hate U Give" at Vermont Square Branch (Feb. 7, 21, 28)
• Gospel Music Performance at Eagle Rock (Feb. 9)
• Meet Lt. Col. Robert Friend of the Tuskegee Airmen at Sunland-Tujunga (Feb. 9)
• "Killer of Sheep" screening at Vernon (Feb. 11)
• Storytime with The Sunshine Storyteller, Ina Buckner-Barnette at Playa Vista (Feb. 12)
• "Black Panther" at Central Library (Feb. 12)
• Body Percussion (College Stepping) at Granada Hills (Feb. 16)
• Jacob Lawrence & the Migration Series at Watts Branch (Feb. 19)
• "Trip to Africa" at Junipero-Serra Branch (Feb. 19)
• Do You Know Your Civil Rights History? at Central Library (Feb. 20)
• Black History Goes West! at Mark Twain Branch (Feb. 21)
• Photographer Bruce Talamon at Hyde Park (Feb. 23)
• Jacques Lesure Jazz Trio at Angeles Mesa (Feb. 23)
• Black Magic with Magician Greg G at Mar Vista (Feb. 26)
• Storyteller Michael McCarty at Platt Branch (Feb. 27)
• African American "Book Tasting" at Central Library (Feb. 27)

For a complete schedule, visit the LAPL calendar.

Anita Hill famously spoke truth to power, as a black woman recounting before a Senate committee of white men the repeated sexual harassment she endured while working with US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Her testimony set off a political firestorm about gender, race, sexual harassment, and power that still resonates today. On Tuesday, Feb. 5 the Hammer Museum will screen the documentary Anita (2013) followed by a conversation with UCLA law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, who assisted Hill’s legal team; and writer Rebecca Traister, author of Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger.

As the country’s last standing roller rinks are threatened with closure, United Skates (2018) spotlights a community of thousands who fight in a racially charged environment to save the underground African American subculture of roller skating. This “kaleidoscopically vibrant” (Variety) documentary examines an underappreciated world that has been formative to black music and culture. A Q&A with director Dyana Winkler follows the Feb. 13 screening.

On Feb. 16, artists Kandis Williams and Devin Troy Strother join gallery director Ebony L. Haynes for a discussion about the contemporary tensions of presenting the black body as it relates to sexuality, politics, and history.

Tressie McMillan Cottom’s debut collection of personal essays, Thick, mines for meaning everything from Saturday Night Live, LinkedIn, and BBQ Becky to sexual violence, infant mortality, and Trump rallies. On Wednesday, Feb. 27 McMillan is by joined by one of today’s most astute cultural critics, Roxane Gay, the author of Bad Feminist and Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body.

Established by Biddy Mason in 1872, the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles is the oldest church founded by African Americans in LA. On Sunday, February 10 First AME church will partner with local politicians to celebrate African American Heritage Month. Senior Pastor J Edgar Boyd welcomes Mayor Eric Garcetti to the celebration, which will be held at the 9:55 a.m. worship service. The theme of the celebration will be “Tracing the paths of the African Diaspora.”

Charles White: A Retrospective is the first major 21st-century museum retrospective on this famed mid-century artist. On view at LACMA from Feb. 17 to June 9, the exhibition traces White’s career and impact in the cities he called home: Chicago, his birthplace; New York, where he joined social causes and gained acclaim; and Los Angeles, where he developed his mature art and became a civil rights activist. The exhibition includes approximately 100 drawings and prints along with lesser-known oil paintings. A superb draftsman, White focused on images of both historical and contemporary African Americans, depicted in ideal portraits and everyday scenes. He extolled their dignity, humanity, and heroism in the face of the country’s long history of racial injustice and encouraged his viewers and fellow artists of color to project their own self-worth.

Two concurrent and complementary exhibitions will be on view in Los Angeles. Life Model: Charles White and His Students (Feb. 16 – Sept. 14, 2019) will be on view at LACMA’s satellite gallery at Charles White Elementary School, formerly Otis Art Institute, where the artist taught for many years; and Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary (March 6 – Aug. 25, 2019) will be presented at the California African American Museum, an institution whose establishment White championed.

On Thursday, Feb. 21 The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills welcomes BET’s dynamic Executive Vice President and Head of Programming, Connie Orlando for a conversation about her strategies for success. The powerhouse network has recently announced an ambitious slate of original programs, including the much talked about adaptation of The First Wives Club, a new Soul Train–inspired drama series, and projects from Halle Berry, Lena Waithe, and more.