Join Bruins across campus this Black History Month for art and discussions that bridge the past, present and future. Speakers and performers will touch upon a range of issues such as mental health, transportation equity, spirituality and activism.

This list represents a fraction of the programming that happens at UCLA throughout the year. Follow campus units such as the Black Bruin Resource Center, the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies and the African American studies department, which host a wide range of programming focused on Black lives, experiences and research on campus and in the community.

Feb. 1, 8:00 p.m.

Samora Pinderhughes and friends: The Healing Project

UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance presents a special night featuring vocalist, pianist, artist and filmmaker Samora Pinderhughes. The Healing Project, his latest work, examines the prison industrial complex in the United States by amplifying the stories of those affected by incarceration, policing, violence and detention through original music and film.

The live event will take place in Royce Hall. Tickets are available for purchase through CAP UCLA.

Feb. 7, 9:30 a.m.

Public transit equity with KeAndra Cylear Dodds

Organized by the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, this talk features KeAndra Cylear Dodds on public transit equity. Dodds, the executive officer of equity and race at LA Metro, will discuss the agency’s efforts to provide equitable transit service and project delivery, policymaking and resource distribution.

This event is part of the Transportation Equity: Moving the Needle series, with additional events scheduled for Feb. 21, March 4 and March 11. The series features discussions on transportation challenges facing communities of color and low-income communities, and draws on the speakers’ own efforts to highlight diverse strategies to create a more equitable transportation future.

The talk will take place in Room 2343 at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Registration is requested for this free event.

Feb. 7, 1:00 p.m.

Reggae relations: Black and Indigenous confluences in Hawai‘i

Sunaina Keonaona Kale (Kanaka Maoli), a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Native American Studies at UC Davis, gives a lecture about music and relations between Native Hawaiian and Black people. Her current book project on reggae in Hawai’i focuses on Indigenous and Black relationality and formations of Kanaka Maoli, local and global identities in the music.

Part of the Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy Colloquium Series, this event is sponsored by the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Department of Ethnomusicology, with support from the school of music’s dean.

This free lecture will take place at the UCLA Music Library seminar room in the Schoenberg Music Building. Register online to attend.

Feb. 8, 6:00 p.m.

Luskin lecture by historian and activist Barbara Ransby

The 2nd Annual Distinguished Lecture in Ideas and Organizing will feature Professor Barbara Ransby, a noted writer, historian and activist. Ransby will explore the interinstitutional space of ideas and organizing, linking research and scholarship to communities and movement-based work. Her presentation is titled “Scholar-Activism in the Era of the New McCarthyism.”

Presented by the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy and the Luskin Lecture Series, the talk will be followed by a discussion moderated by Professor Ananya Roy. Ransby will be joined by professors Sherene H. Razack and David C. Turner III.

The free event will take place at the Grand Salon in Kerckhoff Hall. Registration is required.

Feb. 9, 8:00 p.m.

Martha Redbone’s Roots Project

Afro-Indigenous vocalist, songwriter, composer, and educator Martha Redbone is known for her “unique gumbo” of folk, blues and gospel inspired by her childhood in Harlan County, Kentucky and infused with the eclectic grit of pre-gentrified Brooklyn.

With songs and storytelling that share her life experience as a Native and Black woman and mother in the new millennium, Redbone gives voice to issues of social justice, bridging traditions from past to present, connecting cultures and celebrating the human spirit.

The show will take place at the UCLA Nimoy Theater. Tickets can be purchased through CAP UCLA.

Feb. 16, 2:00 p.m.

Community Conversations: Oluwo’Nla Fakolade

Join the Fowler Museum for a ceremony led by Oluwo’Nla Fakolade to honor the memory of ancestors — particularly those lost during the transatlantic slave trade. The Los Angeles-based Ifa priest is also an advisor for “The House Was Too Small: Yoruba Sacred Arts from Africa and Beyond,” an exhibition that runs through June 2. This workshop connects past and present, recognizing the ocean’s dual role as an ancestral grave and symbol of resilience. 

This event is part of the public programming for the exhibition, which features more than 100 remarkable works from Nigeria, Benin, Brazil, Cuba and the United States, highlighting pan-Yoruba theological principles as expressed through a variety of art forms including sculpture, beadwork and ritual costume design.

Admission to the Fowler Museum is free.

Feb. 22, 1:00 p.m.

Gallery Conversations: Ysamur Flores-Peña and Patrisse Cullors

The Fowler Museum is hosting a conversation with exhibition advisor Ysamur Flores-Peña and artist Patrisse Cullors for a walkthrough of “The House Was Too Small: Yoruba Sacred Arts of Africa and Beyond,” followed by an in-gallery conversation focusing on gender and sexuality in the pantheon of divinities (Orichas/Orixas/Orishas) worshipped and venerated in Yoruba belief. Described as spirits, personified natural forces or deified ancestors, Orichas/Orixas/Orishas in Yoruba religion are featured prominently through sculpture and other art forms throughout the Black Atlantic.

Admission to the Fowler Museum is free.

Feb. 27, 7:00 p.m.

EmPower Hour: Conversations on Black mental health and community wellness

Organized by UCLA Alumni Diversity Programs and Initiatives, Black Bruin Resource Center and the UCLA Black Alumni Association, this event provides a platform to raise awareness about the importance of mental health within the Black community.

Featured speakers Nicole Presley, senior executive director of student resilience and mental health services, and Tanya Brown, training director of UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services, will explore aspects of holistic well-being — including the role of social connections and cultural engagement, which contribute to a comprehensive approach to wellness in the Black community.

This discussion will be held at the Black Bruin Resource Center. Register to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.

Feb. 29, 3:00 p.m.

CRSHE Distinguished Speaker Series featuring L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell

Join the UCLA Center for Reproductive Science, Health and Education for a conversation with L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and CRSHE Director Amander Clark about Black maternal health and care in Los Angeles. Opening remarks will be given by Dr. Elaine Batchlor, CEO of MLK Community Healthcare, who has devoted her career to reducing health disparities and expanding health care quality and access for the most vulnerable.

Registration is required to attend the event at the California NanoSystems Institute. A reception will follow.