Events sponsored by Leadership Mountain View, Community School of Music and Arts, Mountain View Human Relations Commission, Red Rock Coffee and Oriki Theater
www.mvblackhistoryevents.com
Month-long:
Black History Display and Book Recommendations
Including display of first African American Police and Fire employees
Mountain View Library / 585 Franklin Street
February 17th, 8pm:
Black History Month Poetry Slam @ Red Rock Coffee / 201 Castro Street
February 19th, 2pm:
Documentary Screening and Discussion
Ni Wakati / It's Time (97 min) (Web Link
Community School for Music and Arts, Tateuchi Hall / 230 San Antonio Circle
An inspiring story that re-introduces Africa's rich diversity to the rest of the world, as M1 (Dead Prez) and Umi (P.O.W.) travel to East Africa and connect with Ukoofulani Mau Mau, a revolutionary youth movement of artists in the slums of Nairobi. Through music, food and culture they break mistaken myths about Africa and collectively travel to Tanzania to connect with former Black Panther members Mzee Pete O'Neal and Mama Charlotte O'Neal. Interviews with Geronimo Ji Jaga, Davey D, Toni Blackman, Binyavanga Wainaina, and more.
February 25th, 2pm:
Film @ Mountain View Library / 585 Franklin Street
Web Link
Killer of Sheep examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse.
Frustrated by money problems, he finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a coffee cup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife in the living room, holding his daughter. The film offers no solutions; it merely presents life — sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with transcendent joy and gentle humor.