{"id":19,"date":"2007-02-22T22:19:41","date_gmt":"2007-02-23T03:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/?p=19"},"modified":"2007-04-06T18:23:48","modified_gmt":"2007-04-06T23:23:48","slug":"san-francisco-black-arts-and-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/?p=19","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Black Arts and Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"aolb.jpg\"The Presidents holiday weekend was ideal for checking out a satellite exhibit in San Francisco for \u201cThe Art of Living Black<\/a>\u201d (TAOLB), an annual bay area black artist\u2019s exhibition and self-guided art tour. Over the weekend, I visited the African American Arts and Culture Complex (AAACC) home to various afro-centric art and cultural organizations, including the Sergeant Johnson Gallery and the African American Historical and Cultural Society (AAHCS). The AAACC was also the venue for the San Francisco Black LGBT Film Festival. Yes, one can say I got my BLACK<\/strong> on this past weekend!<\/p>\n

In addition to visiting the art venues I enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather and sparkling San Francisco bay. Seasoned travelers with time constraints know the best use of travel time is a guided tour with a local friend or acquaintance. On rather short notice, I managed to link up with Canadian travelers who were in town for only two nights. I organized a fun day on the bay and visit to places of interest within a short distance of their hotel, the fabulous Sir Francis Drake Hotel in Union Square. They were the perfect visitors flexible, spontaneous and considerate. Gracious guests do inspire warm hospitality and a fun time for all.<\/p>\n

My motivation for trekking over to the city on Saturday (2\/17) was to attend the S.F. Black LGBT Film Festival<\/a>. At the risk of sounding pissy, I must report the term \u201cfestival\u201d is most assuredly a misnomer for this event. I won\u2019t go into details about ticketing problems and an undelivered feature film–the event is a modest and apparently poorly organized community project of the San Francisco Black Coalition on AIDS (BCOA). Film festival enthusiasts are forewarned this is not a travel destination event. In support of the volunteers, I will say they remained admirably congenial while dealing with one logistical problem after the other and low attendance.<\/p>\n

\"aaacc1.jpg\"Another fortunate circumstance of the S.F. BCOA event is that it was located at the African American Arts and Culture Complex<\/a> (AAACC) a well-established nexus for Black performing artists in the bay area. The Burial Clay Theatre has been the site of many performances by resident theatre companies including Cultural Odyssey, AfroSolo and the African American Shakespeare Company. If you ever see an announcement for a performance by the Medea Project: Theatre for Incarcerated Women, run don\u2019t walk to purchase your ticket or reserve a seat.
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The Sargent Johnson Gallery<\/a> in the AAACC is one of several host venues for the TAOLB. Currently, there is a satisfying exhibit entitled \u201cBlues and Jazz Masters\u201d by artist James Gayles. The vibrancy of his paintings was just the tonic I needed to recover from the disappointment of the cancelled screening. The time spent in the gallery amongst all those vivid renderings of jazz & blues giants helped to recover my mood. One can tell that this artist has a deep appreciation for the musicians and their craft. The image of Etta James was so realistic I could practically hear her crooning a few bars from \u201cI\u2019d Rather Go Blind\u201d or pouring her heart out on \u201cAt Last\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"aaacc.jpg\" Fully recovered, I ventured upstairs to check out the newly opened African American Historical and Cultural Society<\/a> library and listening room. The AAHCS mission \u201cis to educate African Americans, and the public at large, about the history and culture of San Francisco\u2018s African American community.\u201d The arts complex in general is an excellent source for obtaining current and upcoming Black arts information; the AAHCS in particular is a treasure trove of historical documents and recordings.<\/p>\n

Visitors to San Francisco, (please don\u2019t call it \u201cFrisco\u201d) who may be short on time do not have to venture too far from the Civic Center to enjoy many places of interests. In between film screenings I took an extended break down at the Ferry Building and as serendipity would have it, I encountered a Black elderly musician named Don Cunningham \"san_fran7.jpg\"holding court with his B-flat clarinet amongst the al fresco diners. I stopped to chat with him about long ago Bay Area jazz musicians and his particular \u201cart of living black\u201d as a street performer. His clarinet playing sounded so fine I purchased his compact disc and asked him to autograph it for me. The CD titled \u201cClarinet, Candlelight, & Jazz<\/a>\u201d reminds me of the warm lit feeling one gets when savoring a 12-year old single malt scotch. It\u2019s mellow, refined, elegant, and old school in a naughty speakeasy way. Yuh know blue lights and slow drag dancing–grown folks music.<\/p>\n

I listened to the CD in the evening after having spent a few hours of sightseeing with my Canadian visitors. We\u2019d taken the Golden Gate Ferry to Sausalito in the late afternoon just in time to enjoy the sunset on the return trip. After disembarking we strolled along newly renovated Pier 14 to view \u201cPassage\u201d a public art sculpture by artists Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito. We capped the evening with a scrumptious dinner at Osha Thai Restaurant on 2nd Street in SOMA.<\/p>\n

The opening tune on \u201cClarinet, Candlelight, & Jazz\u201d is a sultry bluesy evocative piece called \u201cCreole Love Song\u201d. The music combined with the imprint of the bay\u2019s gentle rocking motion in my body; and the sun beneath my skin, lulled me into an early slumber\u2014a smooth finish to an intoxicating weekend.<\/p>\n

Skye’s Photo Album<\/a> | Skye Links<\/a><\/p>\n


\nS.F. Black Arts & Culture\u00a0<\/p>\n