Arts and Culture
MoAD Hosts Cuban and Puerto Rican Music Lecture Series
The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) is presenting, “My Music is Who I Am: Identity and Resistance in Cuban and Puerto Rico Music,” a lecture series featuring Grammy nominee and Latin Jazz artist John Santos, premiering Wednesday, Aug. 6 from 7 p.m.-9 p.m., at W Hotel San Francisco, 181 3rd St.
The six-week lecture series will highlight the impact and influence music has on culture as expressed through traditional and popular music of Afro-Latin America. This series is part of the “MoAD in the Neighborhood” Series, which debuted in June.
“This popular lecture series is a wonderfully relaxed way to enjoy the sounds and get a peek into the Afro Cuban Diaspora through music. John Santos will help you build a deeper understanding thru this art form,” said Linda Harrison, executive director of the Museum of African American Diaspora
General admission for the series is $15 for MoAD members and $20 for non-members.
For a list of lecture dates, visit www.sfjazz.org/events/sessions/2014/education/discover-jazz-moad.
Event co-sponsors include SFJAZZ, the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival and the W Hotel.
Arts and Culture
Soaring Birds and Towering Waves Greet Attendees at 29th Annual Maafa Commemoration at Ocean Beach
The 29th Annual MAAFA Commemoration San Francisco Bay Area was held at Ocean Beach, Sunday, Oct. 13. Warm and cloudy with waves as high as tall buildings, we gathered to honor African ancestors who died by the millions over the centuries of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
By Wanda Sabir
Special to The Post
The 29th Annual MAAFA Commemoration San Francisco Bay Area was held at Ocean Beach, Sunday, Oct. 13. Warm and cloudy with waves as high as tall buildings, we gathered to honor African ancestors who died by the millions over the centuries of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
The 50 or so children and adults attending Maafa, Kiswahili word meaning ‘great disaster,’ came from as far as Monterey and Sacramento to just up the block. We all felt the ancestors’ ethereal embrace as Min. Imhotep and Min. Alicia of Wo’Se Community Church poured libations and invited us to call their names with our mouths, feet, and hands.
Birds on the beach lifted their wings in flight moving towards us and flying overhead the way legends say African ancestors flew away from plantation fields. Their collective Aṣé!
The theme for the 29th Maafa event was accountability and as Zochi led us through Mu-i (pronounced moo-ee, a movement meditation) we embraced our power from our roots through our crown chakras. Dr. Uzo Nwankpa, a healer in residence at Freedom Community Clinic, taught us the Igbo war chant —“Eyinmba” which was also an embodied movement.
Our ancestral poet this year was Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911), born in Baltimore to free parents. She was a poet, abolitionist, suffragist, educator, and freedom fighter who lived in Philadelphia.
“It’s time to be a grown person,” Wanda Sabir, Maafa CEO stated. “Own up, fess up, get righteous. Accountability means we don’t blame others for our poor choices and their consequences. We don’t blame the system, genetic weakness, structural racism, poverty of the soul, families of origin, peer pressure, ignorance….
“We are more than the worse thing we have suffered. We are more than what our ancestors survived.
“Our ancestors do not want us to be functional. Our ancestors want us to be free.”
The drummers were phenomenal, and the section of the program open to reflections was filled with song, poetry, dance and prayers. A special treat was “Amkara Music” by Karamo Susso and Amina Janta, who will perform at Bissap Baobab in San Francisco on Oct. 20.
Join us for a Zoom dialogue on adrienne maree brown’s article, “Murmations: Love Looks Like Accountability” (Yes! Magazine, 7/25/22): Sunday, Nov. 10, 2-4 pm PT. Register in advance: MaafaSFBayArea.com, 510-397-9705. Here is the MAAFA 2024 program (https://qr1.be/CPFI).
Arts and Culture
Golden Gate Orchestra Presents World Premiere of ‘Elijah’s Call: An Oratorio for an Abolitionist Nov. 3
The Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra and Chorus proudly presents the world premiere of “Elijah’s Call: An Oratorio for an Abolitionist” on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 2 p.m., at the Palace of Fine Arts. Composed by the Bay Area’s Allison Lovejoy, the piece honors Elijah Parrish Lovejoy, a preacher and anti-slavery martyr.
By Lalita Perez Acosta
The Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra and Chorus proudly presents the world premiere of “Elijah’s Call: An Oratorio for an Abolitionist” on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 2 p.m., at the Palace of Fine Arts. Composed by the Bay Area’s Allison Lovejoy, the piece honors Elijah Parrish Lovejoy, a preacher and anti-slavery martyr.
Lovejoy, a distant relative of Elijah, draws on her ancestry in response to the killing of George Floyd by police in 2020. “The message of this piece is about coming together to cultivate a garden of love and grace,” said Lovejoy. “It speaks to the importance of unity—to heal, grow, and foster a stronger sense of community.”
“Elijah’s Call” invites audiences to reflect on the ongoing quest for civil rights and aims to inspire activism in the face of contemporary racial justice issues.
The world premiere performance will feature civil rights activist and attorney Walter Riley as narrator, with vocalists Michael Desnoyers (tenor), Melinda Martinez-Becker (mezzo-soprano), and Bradley Kynard (bass) delivering the oratorio’s evocative arias. The libretto is written by San Francisco historian, author, and journalist – Gary Kamiya and the Golden Gate Symphony will perform under the direction of Music Director/Conductor Urs Leonhardt Steiner.
In addition to “Elijah’s Call”, the program will include Symphony No. 4 by Florence Price, a pioneering African American composer whose work first premiered at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. This symphony, a landmark in classical music history, was the first by an African American woman to be performed by a major orchestra. The evening will also feature a moving performance by the Men’s Choir from Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ in Oakland, directed by Chris Poston, who will present a selection of African American spirituals.
Leading up to the world premiere, two free panel discussions will offer audiences a deeper look into the creation of “Elijah’s Call.” Composer Lovejoy, librettist Gary Kamiya, who is known for his contributions to local history with notable works published in the San Francisco Chronicle and acclaimed books like Cool Gray City of Love, and conductor Urs Leonhardt Steiner will share insights into the composition process, the historical research involved, and the ongoing relevance of Elijah Lovejoy’s legacy in the modern civil rights movement. Attendees will also hear musical excerpts from the oratorio.
The first panel will be on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 3 p.m. at the Project Artaud Salon Series, Sculpture Studio, 401 Alabama St., San Francisco, CA
The second panel will be on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St., San Francisco, CA
Tickets for the Nov. 3 performance of “Elijah’s Call: An Oratorio for an Abolitionist” are available now at www.cityboxoffice.com/ggsoc. Tickets will also be available at the door, with discounts offered for seniors and students under 18.
This premiere is made possible with the support of the San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Grant.
Lalita Perez Acosta is a communications associate for the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra.
Art
Augusta Savage: A Sculptor, Activist and Renaissance Woman
Augusta Savage was a prominent sculptor and activist of the Harlem Renaissance, known for her artistic talent and dedication to encouraging and supporting African American artists.
By Tamara Shiloh
Augusta Savage was a prominent sculptor and activist of the Harlem Renaissance, known for her artistic talent and dedication to encouraging and supporting African American artists.
Augusta Christine Fells was born on Feb. 29, 1892, in Green Cove Springs, Fla. She later took the name of her second husband as her
Savage began sculpting as a child using natural clay found near her home. Her father, a Methodist minister, didn’t approve of her sculpting and did whatever he could to stop her. She once said that her father “almost whipped all the art out of me.” Despite her father’s objections, she continued to make sculptures.
When the family moved to West Palm Beach, Fla., in 1915, she encountered a new challenge: a lack of clay. She eventually got some materials from a local potter and created a group of figures that she entered in a local county fair. Her work was well received, winning a prize and along the way the support of the fair’s superintendent, George Graham Currie. He encouraged her to study art despite the racism she encountered.
In the 1920s, Savage moved to New York City, where she attended Cooper Union, a prestigious art school that provided free tuition. She excelled there, completing her studies ahead of time and receiving scholarships for living expenses. Despite being rejected for a summer program in France because of her race, she persevered, using the incident to highlight discrimination. She gained recognition during the Harlem Renaissance, creating sculptures of prominent African Americans, including W. E. B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey.
In 1929, Savage received a Julius Rosenwald fellowship, which enabled her to study in Paris, where she exhibited her work at the Grand Palais, a famous exhibition hall and museum in the French capital.
When she returned to the U.S. during the Great Depression, Savage turned to teaching and founded the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts, mentoring young artists like Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis. She played an active role in the Harlem Artists’ Guild and worked with the Works Projects Administration (WPA) to support struggling artists.
One of Savage’s most celebrated works was The Harp, created for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Inspired by James Weldon Johnson’s poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the monumental sculpture depicted twelve African American youth as the strings of a harp. Although it was highly acclaimed, The Harp was destroyed after the fair ended.
In her later years, Savage retreated to a quieter life in Saugerties, New York, teaching children and creating art as a hobby. She was married three times and had one child, Irene.
Savage passed away on March 26, 1962, in New York City after battling cancer. Although she was nearly forgotten at the time of her death, today Savage is recognized as a pioneering artist, educator, and advocate for African American art and artists.
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