PARTICIPATED IN TOURS 1,101

Performance | bone black: a ritual reading for bell hooks

bone black was a ritual performance reading for the late black feminist writer and theorist, bell hooks/Gloria Jean Watkins. Conducted by Courtney Desiree Morris, a visual/conceptual artist and an assistant professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, the performance featured 69 Black women, transgender, and non-binary performers who served as live and virtual ritual readers reciting hooks’ prolific body of work. The ritual gathered artists, scholars, activists, workers, spiritual leaders, and everyday people to engage in this work and create collective spaces for grieving, reflection and ancestral veneration.

MoAD & SFJAZZ Present: Black History Month Celebration with Martin Luther McCoy

In celebration of Black History Month, San Francisco native Martin Luther McCoy blessed the space with a concert and multimedia performative excavation of Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks. With original and repurposed found film and video as the backdrop along with original music, Luther celebrated the close of the current exhibitions with his signature mix of blues drenched R&B and griot storytelling from a classic soul point of view.

Chef-in-Residence | Black Food Summit

A two-day summit inspired by MoAD Chef-in-Residence Bryant Terry’s latest book Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora. The weekend featured thought-provoking panels at MoAD (navigating the ins and outs of publishing, telling compelling stories, and effectively using design). The following day, hosted at the TomKat Ranch in Pescadero, was a day of experiential le arning and communal leisure (hikes, contemplative writing, gardening, breathwork, and equine activities) and a community supper made by some of the Bay Area’s most talented Black chefs.

MoAD & SFJAZZ Present: Paula West

Paula West, an artist JazzTimes calls

“the finest jazz-cabaret singer around,” presented an exclusive intimate concert featuring bassist Owen Clapp and pianist Adam Shulman. They performed a mixture of originals, jazz standards, and socially conscious Americana classics.

MoAD & Litquake Present: Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party

Celebrating the publication of Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party, this panel conversation featured author Ericka Huggins, photographer Stephen Shames, and contributors Cheryl Dawson and Gayle Asali Dickson, moderated by Professor Leigh Raiford.