Virtual Event: 2021 Black History Month Hosted by Santa Barbara County Organizations

Celebrate Black History Month 2021 With Events Hosted Virtually by a Collaboration of Santa Barbara County Organizations 

Around thirty virtual events are planned for Black History Month (BHM) in Santa Barbara County with a theme of The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity this year. For the second year in a row, several organizations are collaborating to celebrate and honor the contributions of African Americans and Black folks in society.

“Black History Month is a time of recognition, reflection, learning, and appreciation,” shared Lawanda Lyons Pruitt, President of the NAACP Santa Maria-Lompoc.  “A time for all Americans to acknowledge the rich contributions and sacrifices made to our country, by Black people. History informs us that our contributions and sacrifice are often not acknowledged in our past, including in our history books.”

Community groups include Healing Justice Santa Barbara, Black History Month Culture House, Gateway Educational Services, Santa Barbara Young Black Professionals, Coffee with a Black Guy, El Centro, Endowment for Youth Committee, African American Women in Santa Barbara County, Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara, Juneteenth Santa Barbara, and the Santa Barbara Public Library.

Kicking off this year’s month is the traveling art installation of Say Their Names, presented by Healing Justice Santa Barbara. Previously positioned in the Funk Zone at several locations, the installation is now to be displayed throughout the month at UCSB. Events will span from yoga with Dr. Azure Stewart to the return of the Black History Month Culture House events, and even a Black Educators Panel hosted by Gateway Education.

The community-at-large is welcome to come and enjoy the events listed below (events details will be updated throughout the month of February): 

• January 28, 7 P.M. | A Follow-Up Conversation to the UCSB Arts & Lectures Race to Justice Featuring Isabel Wilkerson, Coffee With a Black Guy
  • Free | Click for more details
• February 2, Time TBA | Black History Month Resolution, Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors
  • Free | more details to come
• February 6, 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. | Black Women Rock – a roundtable discussion about Black women navigating the music business as rock and roll artists, Black History Month Virtual Culture House
  • Free | more details to come
• February 7, 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. | Interview with Soul-Patrol.com Founders Bob and Mike Davis, Black History Month Virtual Culture House
  • Free | more details at Soul-Patrol.com
• February 9, 5:30 P.M. | Fiction Book Club discussion of Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi, Santa Barbara Public Library
  • Free | Click for more details 
• February 13, 10:00 A.M. | Chocolate Baby Story Time, Healing Justice Santa Barbara
  • Free or by donation to Healing Justice SB 
• February 13, 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. | Black Rock Coalition 35th Anniversary Celebration featuring select video concerts by the BRC Orchestra, Black History Month Virtual Culture House
  • Free | more details to come
• February 14, 10 A.M. | Soulful Healing Through Gentle Yoga with Dr. Azure Stewart, Virtual
  • Free | more details to come
• February 14, 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. | TBA, Black History Month Virtual Culture House
  • Free | more details to come
• February 16, 5 P.M. – 6 P.M. | Favorite Poems Reading, Santa Barbara Public Library
  • Free | Click for more details
• February 16, Time TBA | Cooking with Afrofusion & Gipsy Hill Bakery, Healing Justice Santa Barbara
  • Free or by donation to Healing Justice SB 
• February 20, 10:00 A.M. | Chocolate Baby Story Time, Healing Justice Santa Barbara
  • Free or by donation to Healing Justice SB  
• February 20, 10:00 A.M. | Virtual Brunch, Santa Barbara Young Black Professionals 
  • More details at SBYBP.com
• February 20, 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. | Interview with Harold Brown, one of the original composers and performers of “Spill The Wine,” “Cisco Kid,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” and more.  “All my friends know the Lowrider,”  Black History Month Virtual Culture House
  • Free | more details to come
• February 20, 5:00 P.M. | Virtual Paint & Sip, Santa Barbara Young Black Professionals 
  • More details at SBYBP.com
• February 21, 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. | TBA, Black History Month Virtual Culture House
  • Free | more details to come
• February 22, Time TBA | Cooking with Shaloob & Gipsy Hill Bakery, Healing Justice Santa Barbara
  • Free or by donation to Healing Justice SB 
• February 23, 6:00 P.M. | Movement for Black Lives, Fight for Black Futures, UCSB
• February 24, 4:00 P.M. | Black Educators Panel, Gateway Educational Services
  • Invitation Only
• February 26, 3:30 P.M. | Diversify Our Narrative Book Club discussion of Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson, Santa Barbara Public Library in collaboration with Diversify Our Narrative Carpinteria, a student-led campaign aimed at addressing systemic racism in education by demanding diversity in texts, authors, and cultural representation in public school curricula.
  • Free | Click for more details
• February 26, 4 – 8 P.M. | Black is Beautiful Showcase, Healing Justice Santa Barbara
  • Free or by donation to Healing Justice SB 
• February 27, 10:00 A.M. | Chocolate Baby Story Time, Healing Justice Santa Barbara
  • Free or by donation to Healing Justice SB  
• February 27, 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. | Interview with Mandrill, legendary funk/rock/jazz/soul band, one of the most influential groups in Black popular music, Black History Month Virtual Culture House
  • Free | more details to come
• February 28, 10 A.M. | Soulful Healing Through Gentle Yoga with Dr. Azure Stewart, Virtual
  • Free | more details to come
• February 28, 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. | TBA, Black History Month Virtual Culture House
  • Free | more details to come
• March 4, 6 P.M. | The Indy Book Club discussion of February reads by Black women, featuring Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, Santa Barbara Public Library 
  •  Free | link to come

Events will be updated throughout the month at this link: https://www.hjsb.org/events/2021-black-history-month-the-black-family-representation-identity-and-diversity