Skip to main content

Events & Testimonials

PRIMAVERA FOUNDATION HONORS BLACK HISTORY MONTH

In 1926, historian and journalist Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week, which grew into what we now know as Black History Month, recognized annually in February. Woodson, the son of former enslaved people, famously said, "If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."

Black History Month adopts a different theme each year, with this year’s being "Black Resistance."  The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), which Woodson founded in 1915 and today is the official promoter of Black History Month, notes that the theme encompasses the African-American experience from its outset.

"African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms, and police killings since our arrival upon these shores,” the association said. “These efforts have been to advocate for a dignified self-determined life in a just democratic society in the United States and beyond the United States political jurisdiction."

Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions of African Americans and recognize the sacrifices and struggles that continue to this day. It is an opportunity to reflect, learn, understand and celebrate. It is an opportunity to honor the histories and the struggles of the African and Black Diaspora. It is a time to center and uplift Blackness and the Black community. This is a journey that cannot be contained within one month. We must challenge ourselves to aspire to be allies and engage in transformative work, every single day.

In February, we honor Black history by:

  • Educating ourselves about the struggles, resistance, triumphs, contributions and resilience of African Americans
  • Celebrating Black arts and culture
  • Challenging anti-Blackness and systemic injustice
  • Supporting Black-owned businesses                                       

Here is a sampling of events, businesses and resources, compiled from local websites and sources, to celebrate Black History Month in the Tucson area:

Local Black History Month events

●       Black History Month Kick-Off Open House

         ○  2 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the University of Arizona North Ballroom, Student Union Memorial Center

  • Meet the Department of Africana Studies at this open house with free food, entertainment, prizes and more!

●       University of Arizona Faculty Guest DJs on KXCI

          ○  At 5 p.m. every Friday in February, live on KXCI Community Radio, 91.3 FM or http://kxci.org/

  •  Annual partnership with KXCI Community Radio, professors from Africana Studies will be featured as guest DJs on the Home Stretch every February. Professors will select a topic to discuss and play related songs, illuminating subjects related to music, culture, history and their own research.

●       Social Art-ivism: Black Panther Culture, From Oakland to the World

          ○  6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the UA Poetry Center, Rubel Room, 1508 E. Helen St.

  • "Yesterday's histories unravel today's mysteries." With those words as her motto, Pamela Mays McDonald explores Black culture through language, music, visual and performing arts, literature, poetry, fashion, ritual and spiritual expression.

●       Harambee Festival

        ○  11 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Dunbar Pavilion, 325 W. 2nd St.

  • Live music, food, entertainment (read-in, films, smash room experience)

●        Eric Harris and Grant Sing perform Motown & R&B celebrating Black History Month

         ○  7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Dunbar Pavilion, 325 W. 2nd St.

  •  Purchase tickets at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/triplerrrproduction/792054

●       Black History Month Talk with Dr. Rebecca Hall, JD, PhD

         ○ 2:30 p.m., Saturday, February 11, via Webinar on ZOOM

  • Dr. Hall will discuss her groundbreaking book, “Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts”
  •  Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/363ubvwz 

●       Black and Brown Health Fair, presented by Alpha Phi Fraternity and the Pima County Health Department

         ○  10 a.m.-4 p.m., Feb. 18, at the Donna R. Liggins Community Recreation Center, 2160 N. 6th Ave.

  • This event aims to provide health services, increase awareness and provide education about chronic health conditions, prevention, healthy living, oral health, maternal health and general health and wellness —focusing on Black and Brown communities.
  •   Lunch will be provided along with food preservation classes, access to produce and more.

Local Black-owned businesses

  • Lilith and Daughter: handmade jewelry- https://www.lilithanddaughters.com/
  • Light of Mine Candle Supply: artisanal, luxury candles sourced from vegan, sustainable and organic coconut wax- https://www.lomcandles.com/
  • Pies the Limit: traditional and vegan baked goods. Hand pies with sweet on one side and savory on the other- https://www.piesdalimit.com/
  • Advocatus Counseling, LLC: Ben Ayantola, founder, is a licensed professional counselor who provides psychotherapy to children (6-10), adolescents, and adults- https://www.advocatuscounseling.com/about-advocatus-counseling
  • Alafia: Delicious and authentic West African cuisine (1070 N. Swan Road, Tucson)
  •  Alanna Airitam: Questioning generalized stereotypes and the lack of fair representation of Black people in art spaces has led photographer Alanna Airitam to research critical historical omissions and how those contrived narratives represent and influence succeeding generations. Her work can be found at https://www.alannaairitam.com/index
  • Axé Capoeira Tucson at Studio Axé is a premier capoeira, martial arts, music and dance organization- https://tucsoncapoeira.com/
  •  BarbiesLove4Lashes: prides itself in selling only the best mink and magnetic eyelashes that are 100% cruelty free, nontoxic and reusable up to 35 times- 4500 N Oracle Road, Suite# 269, (520) 276-9475
  • Church Ink Tattoo Parlor was created to empower women while promoting self-awareness and body love. Founder Marcella Watson is a strong advocate for the right to feel comfortable in your own skin, and in this particular case, what goes on it- https://www.churchinktattoos.com/about.html
  • Dunbar Kingdom Kutz-Dunbar Barber Academy is a barber shop and barber school providing instructional classes and haircuts, 325 W. 2nd Ave., (520) 624-0131

Source: #BLAXFRIDAY

Black history books to read:

  • The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Slavery in the Age of Memory: Engaging the Past by Ana Lucia Araujo
  • A Black Women’s History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali N. Gross
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  • Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley by Malcom X
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Documentaries and films to watch:

  • Many Rivers to Cross
  • Summer of Soul
  • Slavery by Any Other Name
  • 13th
  •  I am Not Your Negro
  • High on the Hog: How African-American Cuisine Transformed America
  • The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
  • Freedom Riders
  •  Moonlight
  •  Descendant

Influential musicians to enjoy:

  • Nina Simone
  •  John Coltrane
  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe
  •  Kendrick Lamar
  • Frankie Knuckles
  •  Big Joe Turner
  • Charlie Parker
  •  U-Roy
  • Muddy Waters
  •  Louis Armstrong
  •  Mahalia Jackson
  • Marvin Gaye
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Tupac Shakur

Artists to learn about:

  •  Jean-Michel Basquiat
  •  Gordon Parks
  • Augusta Savage
  •  William Edmondson
  •  Horace Pippin
  • Archibald Motley
  •  Kehinde Wiley
  • Titus Kaphar

COMMUNITY PARTNERS & MORE

© 2023 The Primavera Foundation
Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

  1. What Information Do We Collect? When you visit our website you may provide us with two types of information: personal information you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected on an individual basis and website use information collected on an aggregate basis as you and others browse our website.
  2. Personal Information You Choose to Provide We may request that you voluntarily supply us with personal information, including your email address, postal address, home or work telephone number and other personal information for such purposes as correspondence, placing an order, requesting an estimate, or participating in online surveys. If you choose to correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages together with your email address and our responses. We provide the same protections for these electronic communications that we employ in the maintenance of information received by mail and telephone.
  3. Website Use Information Similar to other websites, our site may utilize a standard technology called "cookies" (see explanation below, "What Are Cookies?") and web server logs to collect information about how our website is used. Information gathered through cookies and server logs may include the date and time of visits, the pages viewed, time spent at our website, and the sites visited just before and just after ours. This information is collected on an aggregate basis. None of this information is associated with you as an individual.
  4. How Do We Use the Information That You Provide to Us? Broadly speaking, we use personal information for purposes of administering our business activities, providing service and support and making available other products and services to our customers and prospective customers. Occasionally, we may also use the information we collect to notify you about important changes to our website, new services and special offers we think you will find valuable. The lists used to send you product and service offers are developed and managed under our traditional standards designed to safeguard the security and privacy of all personal information provided by our users. You may at any time to notify us of your desire not to receive these offers.
  5. What Are Cookies? Cookies are a feature of web browser software that allows web servers to recognize the computer used to access a website. Cookies are small pieces of data that are stored by a user's web browser on the user's hard drive. Cookies can remember what information a user accesses on one web page to simplify subsequent interactions with that website by the same user or to use the information to streamline the user's transactions on related web pages. This makes it easier for a user to move from web page to web page and to complete commercial transactions over the Internet. Cookies should make your online experience easier and more personalized.
  6. How Do We Use Information Collected From Cookies? We use website browser software tools such as cookies and web server logs to gather information about our website users' browsing activities, in order to constantly improve our website and better serve our users. This information assists us to design and arrange our web pages in the most user-friendly manner and to continually improve our website to better meet the needs of our users and prospective users. Cookies help us collect important business and technical statistics. The information in the cookies lets us trace the paths followed by users to our website as they move from one page to another. Web server logs allow us to count how many people visit our website and evaluate our website's visitor capacity. We do not use these technologies to capture your individual email address or any personally identifying information about you.
  7. Notice of New Services and Changes Occasionally, we may use the information we collect to notify you about important changes to our website, new services and special offers we think you will find valuable. As a user of our website, you will be given the opportunity to notify us of your desire not to receive these offers by clicking on a response box when you receive such an offer or by sending us an email request.
  8. How Do We Secure Information Transmissions? When you send confidential personal information to us on our website, a secure server software which we have licensed encrypts all information you input before it is sent to us. The information is scrambled en route and decoded once it reaches our website. Other email that you may send to us may not be secure unless we advise you that security measures will be in place prior to your transmitting the information. For that reason, we ask that you do not send confidential information such as Social Security, credit card, or account numbers to us through an unsecured email.
  9. How Do We Protect Your Information? Information Security -- We utilize encryption/security software to safeguard the confidentiality of personal information we collect from unauthorized access or disclosure and accidental loss, alteration or destruction. Evaluation of Information Protection Practices -- Periodically, our operations and business practices are reviewed for compliance with organization policies and procedures governing the security, confidentiality and quality of our information. Employee Access, Training and Expectations -- Our organization values, ethical standards, policies and practices are committed to the protection of user information. In general, our business practices limit employee access to confidential information, and limit the use and disclosure of such information to authorized persons, processes and transactions.
  10. How Can You Access and Correct Your Information? You may request access to all your personally identifiable information that we collect online and maintain in our database by emailing us using the contact form provided to you within the site structure of our website.
  11. Do We Disclose Information to Outside Parties? We may provide aggregate information about our customers, sales, website traffic patterns and related website information to our affiliates or reputable third parties, but this information will not include personally identifying data, except as otherwise provided in this privacy policy.
  12. What About Legally Compelled Disclosure of Information? We may disclose information when legally compelled to do so, in other words, when we, in good faith, believe that the law requires it or for the protection of our legal rights.
  13. Permission to Use of Materials The right to download and store or output the materials in our website is granted for the user's personal use only, and materials may not be reproduced in any edited form. Any other reproduction, transmission, performance, display or editing of these materials by any means mechanical or electronic without our express written permission is strictly prohibited. Users wishing to obtain permission to reprint or reproduce any materials appearing on this site may contact us directly.
Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions

Donation Refund Policy

We are grateful for your donation and support of our organization. If you have made an error in making your donation or change your mind about contributing to our organization please contact us. Refunds are returned using the original method of payment. If you made your donation by credit card, your refund will be credited to that same credit card.

Automated Recurring Donation Cancellation

Ongoing support is important to enabling projects to continue their work, so we encourage donors to continue to contribute to projects over time. But if you must cancel your recurring donation, please notify us.

Powered by Firespring