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Photos & Video | 6th Annual Black Sunday Holiday Shopping Experience
Event: 6th Annual Black Sunday Holiday Shopping Experience
Date: December 3, 2023
Location: Calabash Restaurant, Oakland
Photography: Adam Turner
Videography: Off Tha Hook-TV
Fast Facts
• 15 Vendors
• Over 250 attendees
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Video | Here’s how this community-focused coffee shop, wine bar is helping revive downtown Oakland
Kinfolx is an incredibly popular coffee and wine bar in downtown Oakland. It launched as a pop-up in 2022 with a lease ending September 2024. Despite challenges with crime and a changing business landscape- they don’t ever want to leave.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Creighton Davis is a born and raised San Franciscan, who as a kid, always loved spending time across the bridge in Oakland.
“I remember growing up and just walking up to people, dapping, you know just showing that love and showing that openness that is very much emblematic of the Bay,” Davis said.
That sense of community is part of the reason why after many years of living around the country, Davis moved to the Town, but things are different. More…
Photos & Video | MoAD Shines with Top Notch Annual Afropolitan Ball, Raises Over $650k
Event: MoAD Afropolitan Ball 2023
Date: October 21, 2023
Location: The Hibernia, San Francisco
Photography (83): Agency Moanalani Jeffrey
On October 21, over 500 Bay Area arts enthusiasts gathered at The Hibernia in San Francisco to celebrate the Museum of African Diaspora’s (MoAD) new 2023-2024 exhibition season and the museum’s rich cultural diversity. The celebration raised over $650K to support the museum’s exhibitions, educational programs and beloved public programs.
The Afropolitian Ball: One Love, One MoAD began with an elegant VIP reception catered by Melons Catering and Events, one of the Bay Area’s preeminent caterers, in the beautiful ballroom of The Hibernia. Guests were entertained with a performance by the popular musical group Sabor De Mi Cuba. During the reception, Co-Chairs of the event Jill Cowan and Shannon Nash encouraged guests to take center stage for MoAD’s “raise the paddle” session to meet critical funding needs for the museum’s mission.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed made an appearance saying “MoAD is a valuable institution.” “The museum is not just about the exhibits, it’s about the educational opportunities of connecting the African Diaspora with our schools, making sure that we set a strong curriculum of Black history across the Diaspora.” MoAD Executive Director Monetta White was quoted as saying “In the spirit of our theme One Love, One MoAD, I am reminded of the resilience that binds us together. We face challenges, conquer them, and we come out stronger as a vibrant community.” “ As we face these challenges, it is our artists who we always call upon to uplift our community.” “When I reflect on what drives me to do this work daily, it’s my staff, the artists, the curators, and the community I am proud to serve.”
After the reception, artist Autumn Breon gave a site-specific performance created uniquely for the Afropolitian Ball. The party continued with dancing until midnight with official Golden State Warriors DJ, DJ Sharp.
Related
• MoAD’s Afropolitan Ball Raises $650K in Lively Style – Nob Hill Gazette
• MoAD presents Joe Sam – San Francisco Chronicle
• Museum of the African Diaspora’s Monetta White was a key player in the San Francisco food scene before making her mark in art – San Francisco Business Times
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Photos | Ingrid Best Launches Wine Label with Two Successful Events on Both Sides of the Bay
Event: Ingrid Best Wine Launch
Date: October 2023
Location: Coco Noir Wine Shop (Oakland) and Copas (San Francisco)
Photos: Courtesy of Photographers at Large
Ingrid Best has emerged as the newest female African American vintner on the scene. She claims SF Bay Area for her roots but her education of wine is global. While working in the liquor distribution industry for major suppliers such as Diageo, Moët Hennessy, Bacardi, and Combs Enterprises for over two decades she gained not only a knowledge of the business but significant relationships with other African American distributors like Jay Z and Sean “Puffy” Combs. She eventually stepped away from the corporate world to follow her passion and founded IBest Wines.
After years of research and travel Ingrid Best has finally released her signature wines to the public, and recently held signature wine release parties in SF and Oakland. She is currently offering two blends of wines, a red blend and a white blend from South Africa grapes. Her love of culture, art and wine is her motivation to making her wine unique and appreciated.
Chef Mimi (Black Food & Wine Experience) and entrepreneur Alicia Kidd (Coco Noir Wine Shop) hosted events in San Francisco and Oakland to help announce Ingrid Best’s wine launch.
Chef Mimi hosted a sit down dinner for a select clientele which enjoyed the pairing of Mexican food with Ingrid’s wine at Copas Restaurant in San Francisco. Several friends, business associates and wine enthusiasts came out in support of Ingrid’s premiere wine launch.
Copas is a Mexican themed restaurant in the Castro district owned by two Hispanic women and offered guests a delicious sampling of their heritage menu.
Over in the East Bay, Coco Noir Wine Shop Bar in Downtown Oakland hosted a fireside sip conversation with Ingrid to share her journey from wine enthusiast to CEO and Wine Negociant. Once again friends, restaurateurs, bar owners and wine aficionados came out to support Ingrid’s wine launch debut, and the venue was bustling with people sampling and purchasing Ingrid’s dynamic duo of blends along with their unique charcuterie plates.
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Video | Oakland cafe plans to be hub for community discussion of crime prevention
Kinfolx, a coffee shop in downtown Oakland, is planning a town hall to address the nagging issue of crime in the community. Lezla Gooden reports. (12-1-23)
Photos | AAACC emerges with SOBA: Celebrate Black Music
Event: AAACC presents SOBA: Celebrate Black Music
Date: November 18, 2023
Location: African American Arts & Culture Complex, SF
Organizer: African American Arts & Culture Complex
Photos (46): Donald Bowden Photography
The African American Arts and Cultural Complex (AAACC), co-directed by sisters Melorra Green and Melonie Green is the home from which over 200 emerging and unsung artists launched a new arts series, “Season of Black Art” (SOBA), on October 29 which continues with monthly events through February 2024. Second in the series, the November 18 event was a talented display of Black music.
SOBA is directed by San Francisco native, Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., founder of the award-winning production company, SFBATCO (San Francisco Bay Area Theater Company), known for creating new art and cultural collaborations like “The New Roots Theater Festival, founded by Jackson.
The SOBA series also serves as a “house warming party” or in a sense, a “homecoming celebration” spanning five months as it gives the community of the Fillmore and wider San Francisco, and visiting tourists an opportunity to see how the three-story building has been transformed via the input of local artists. SOBA is affirmation of the continuum of service AAACC has meant to the arts world and signifies its emergence from the impact of COVID-19 that nearly decimated the arts world-wide.
The series continues at AAACC on December 9 with “Celebrate Black Theatre + Film.”
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Photos & Video | Over 250 APEC Attendees and Local Art Lovers Turn Out for BLKxSF / APEC Art Evening
Event: BLKxSF / APEC Art Evening featuring Adrian L. Burrell: Venus Blues
Date: November 17, 2023
Location: Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco
Photography: Adam Turner
Despite the rainy weather, Bay Bridge lane closures and the hugely popular Tony! Toni! Tone! (The Masonic) and Lauryn Hill/Fugees (Chase Center) concerts this past Friday evening, over 250 guests including APEC attendees and local art lovers found their way to San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. The occasion – a private reception featuring the work of artist, Oakland native and Kehinde Wiley resident alum, Adrian L. Burrell, organized by BLKxSF with the generous support of the Minnesota Project. BLKxSF is a recently formed collective of Black event producers who have come together to create moments where people can connect, network and thrive. This reception was the first in a series of upcoming collaborations.
In his exhibition, Venus Blues, Burrell explores the idea of history as a living phenomenon in the face of duress and erasure. The exhibition highlights Burrell’s large-scale sculptures and life-sized photographs created specifically for the exhibition, as well as the debut of a new iteration of the artist’s ongoing film project, The Saints Step in Kongo Time. [Read more below the photos…]
“I was thinking about these ideas of the blues as a modality of storytelling, but also a form of agency,” Burrell explained. “We all come into this world with a song, and sometimes people get to sing it and sometimes people don’t.” – Adrian Burrell via SF Chronicle Datebook
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The evening included remarks by Dr. Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, Co-Director, Asian American Art Initiative, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford; artists Reniel Del Rosario and Adrian Burrell, and co-host Jonathan Carver Moore, moderated by Rachel Sample, MSP Foundation Director.
In addition to Moore, the event host committee, lead by Tyra Fennell (Director of Community Relations, Office of Mayor London Breed and a BLKxSF founder), included Lisa Blackwell (real estate professional, avid art collector and advocate), Michael D (Managing Editor, Bay Area Registry), Paul Henderson (Executive Director, SF Department of Police Accountability) and Vas Kinris (Executive director, Fillmore Merchants Association and the Director of Business Development at the San Francisco Council Of District Merchants Associations).
The exhibition, curated by Dr. Tiffany E. Barber and presented with the generous support of the Paul L. Wattis Foundation, is on display through December 3 at the cavernous if not daunting Minnesota Street Project space at 1201 Minnesota Street. It is the first exhibition to utilize the entire MSP Foundation since its May 2023 debut, including both its 17,000 sq. ft. interior and 3,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art screening gallery.
Also on display Friday evening at the adjacent Rena Bransten Gallery (1275 Minnesota Street) was Hung Liu: Capp Street Project, 1988. This collection of paintings and artifacts re-imagines the 1988 exhibition Hung Liu: Resident Alien, the culmination of Liu’s two-month artist residency at the Capp Street Project in San Francisco.
In addition Jenkins Johnson Gallery (1275 Minnesota Street) presented Kevin Cole’s solo exhibition, Same Song Different Beat Circles with Ladders. Cole utilizes abstraction to explore themes of social oppression, conveyed through a rich tapestry of symbolism, and expressed across various mediums including painting, drawing, and sculpture, on display through through December 22.
Ungrafted, a nearby Dogpatch restaurant owned by Christopher Gaither, one of only four Black master sommeliers in the world, along with Piccino and Besharam, made for the perfect “after” venues for event attendees lucky enough to find an open table.
Located in San Francisco’s historic Dogpatch district, the Minnesota Street Project offers economically sustainable spaces for art galleries, artists and related nonprofits. Inhabiting three warehouses, the Project seeks to retain and strengthen San Francisco’s contemporary art community in the short term, while developing an internationally recognized arts destination in the long term.
Related…
• Nov 19, 2023 | Adrian L. Burrell’s ‘Venus Blues’ bridges Senegal to Oakland through family journey – SF Chronicle Datebook
• July 20, 2023 | Oakland artist to create new multimedia installation in S.F.’s Dogpatch – SF Chronicle Datebook
Photos | Reverend Cecil Williams’ 60th Anniversary celebrated at GLIDE Holiday Jam
Event: GLIDE’s Annual Holiday Jam
Date: November 9, 2023
Location: The Masonic, San Francisco
Photos (34): Ando Caulfield for Drew Altizer Photography
GLIDE Annual Holiday Jam: Keep On, a live benefit concert took place on Thursday, November 9, at The Masonic in San Francisco. The GLIDE Holiday Jam celebrated the 60th Anniversary of Reverend Cecil Williams’ arrival to GLIDE with an all-star gathering. The evening also celebrated GLIDE’s brand-new CEO, Dr. Gina Fromer. In attendance were supporters of GLIDES and changemakers like SF Mayor London Breed, activist Honey Mahogany, and many more.
Illustrious songwriter and performer Valerie Simpson led the celebration. Alongside the nationally renowned GLIDE Ensemble and the Change Band lead by Vernon Bush and Zoe Ellis, Simpson, and special guests blues guitarist, producer, composer, and philanthropist D’Wayne Wiggins (from Tony! Toni! Toné!); prolific R&B and soulful visionary Goapele; and captivating soul singer Martin Luther McCoy shared meaningful tributes to Cecil featuring the legendary music of Ashford & Simpson. KQED’s Priya David Clemens was the evening’s Mistress of Ceremonies.
Related
• San Francisco’s GLIDE Foundation ushers in a new era – San Francisco Examiner
• The Glide Holiday Jam Raises $2.4 Million! – Nob Hill Gazette
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Photos | 20th Annual OAACC Business Awards Luncheon
Event: 20th Annual Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC) Business Awards Luncheon (2023)
Date: October 26, 2023
Location: Scott’s Seafood Grill & Bar Pavilion, Oakland
Photos: Courtesy of Photographers at Large
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Video | New artistic director ushers in new era at SF JAZZ
SFJAZZ, the largest non-profit jazz presenter in the world, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The organization explores jazz from its origin to new expressions around the world, but moving forward, they faced the major challenge of finding new artistic leadership.
“We had 40 years under an extraordinary founder and you can’t ever replace a founder”, Chair of the Board of Trustees Denise Young explains, “we had to think much bigger”.
SF JAZZ had a clear vision of what they were looking for in a new artistic director.
“We really wanted someone who had the creative and artistic vision that could match the energy of what we felt was the importance of jazz and this music, in this moment, in this time”, Young reveals. More…
Photos | SFHRC Pathways to Parity Reception
Event: SFHRC Pathway to Parity Reception
Date: October 6, 2023
Location: San Francisco City Hall
Photos (45): Ando Caulfield and David Zahrobsky for Drew Altizer Photography
The energy was high in City Hall – North Light Court as the third annual Pathways to Parity economic rights summit came to a close with a fun and festive reception on Friday, October 6, 2023. Civic and community leaders, economic scholars, and friends gathered to celebrate the closing of the innovative, multi-site, two-day convening to create transformational economic impacts for all. Dr. Sheryl Davis, Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission gave remarks, and a special performance by Bay Area hip hop’s own Suga-T kept things going as attendees danced into the evening.
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