In January, we were invited to join the California Arts and Culture Summit in Sacramento, presented by CA for the Arts. We were asked to share a glimpse into our ecosystem alongside fellow arts and culture workers.
We screened our short documentary film, The BLACumentary: And The Path Towards Cultural Reforestation, followed by a talk led by our Storytelling Steward, Adenike Amin, and our Vision and Leadership Steward, Zakiya “Shapeshifter” Harris.
The BLACumentary film centers the six voices of our vision keepers and board members - each on their proverbial hero’s journey to restore Black cultural spaces. It traces the Black Arts Movement in Oakland from its origins to the present threat of cultural erasure, while grounding the work BLACspace is doing to rebuild and reimagine the next 100 years. It maps the birth of BLACspace Cooperative and asks what it means to reestablish and protect Black spaces. Shout out to our comrade in community, NeFesha Yisra’el, Director of Programs at CA for the Arts, for opening the door and making room for BLACspace within it. Thank you to Sasha Kelley, our Mutual Aid Steward, for blessing the screening room with that Godly-scented Egungun* spray and dimming the lights on cue. The room, before that, needed to be reinvigorated with life and energy. Naturally, we took this opportunity to bring The BLACspace Way* into the space. This summit, and I do believe the team would agree, made it very clear that people are hungry for spaces that not only bring us together to talk about our work but also show us how to strategize our collaborations.
The BLACspace Way* (noun) BLACspace Cooperative’s placemaking philosophy; the practice of elevating any space by making it one’s own. (2) the refusal to wait for a room to change; instead, alter the conditions of the room by entering it with full presence. (3) inhabiting space with intention, authorship, and care.
Egungun* (noun) In Yoruba spiritual and cultural tradition, a sacred ancestral presence or masquerade that honors, embodies, and calls forth the wisdom, memory, and spirit of those who came before.
