A month-long Black History Month celebration with programming suitable for all ages will be held in Richmond next month.
During February, Richmond Public Library, Richmond Art Gallery and Richmond Cultural Centre will hold in-person and online events highlighting the achievements and resilience of Black individuals.
The programming is led by local advocate Mary Wilson in partnership with the City of Richmond.
“In Canada 29 years ago, the House of Commons proclaimed February to be Black History Month,” said Wilson.
“The act of gathering together with community to listen, share, learn and act on our history is this year’s theme and is driving how we will honour our heroes this February and all year round, and share our historical and ongoing contributions to Canada.”
Richmond Cultural Centre
The city's annual Black History Month art exhibition will be held at the cultural centre from Feb. 2 to 29 and will feature works by local Black artists Ruby Smith Díaz and Tosin Peters.
Peters will also be holding an artist talk on Feb. 17 to reflect on the Letters to Untitled exhibition, which celebrates the "multifaceted and profound stories within the Black and African experience."
Richmond Art Gallery
Meanwhile, Richmond Art Gallery's group exhibition, Let the real world in, explores modes of expression through videos of youths exercising their agency to comment on the world around them.
For community members who wish to get more insight into the exhibition, local activist and podcaster Danielle Barreto will be hosting a "talkback tour" with curator Zoë Chan on Feb. 10.
Artist Yaimel López Zaldívar, who created screenprints in addition to videos for the exhibition, will host an artist salon to discuss his artistic journey from Cuba to Canada on Feb. 24.
Community members who wish to meet Zaldívar can also visit his printmaking workshop at Richmond Children's Arts Festival on Feb. 19.
The event, held on B.C.'s Family Day, will feature as well a choreography performance showcasing traditional dances and rhythms from West and East Africa.
Richmond Public Library
At Richmond Public Library, community members can enjoy a month-long trivia about local Black history and personalities in addition to a musical performance by Checo Tohomaso on Feb. 3.
The highlight event is an author talk by Sheila Murray, author of award-winning novel Finding Edward. Murray will be speaking virtually from Ontario but the event is available both in-person at Brighouse Library or online via Zoom.
Jackie Bailey and Maurice Earle from Canada Post will be at the library on Feb. 15 to introduce this year's Black History Month stamp, featuring Mary Ann Shadd, an influential abolitionist and the first Black woman to publish a newspaper in North America.
For those wishing to learn more about Black inventors, Kwantlen Polytechnic University's (KPU) Lindagene Coyle will be diving into the rich history at an in-person event at Brighouse library. Participants will get a chance to win a prize.
Film screenings of Black-centred stories for children and families will be held each Saturday from Feb. 3 to 24 with films including The Princess and the Frog and Spiderman across the Spider-Verse.
A film club for adults, by registration, is also available on Feb. 6 and 20 for screenings of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
For more details about Black History Month events in Richmond, visit richmond.ca/BlackHistoryMonth.
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