Black History Month puts a huge spotlight on African American history and culture.
What is now a month-long celebration was launched in 1926 as Negro History Week by historian Carter G. Woodson, who believed that “Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976.
Few Atlantans are strangers to the King Birth Home and King Center. For many, they are as Atlantan as the Coca-Cola sign. Below are some additional suggestions to enjoy throughout 2020.
Auburn Avenue Research Library
If you haven’t dropped into the Auburn Avenue Research Library (AARL) since it reopened in 2016 after its two-year $20 million renovation and expansion, then you have been missing out. On any given day, it’s not uncommon to view a buzzworthy art exhibition, hear from an author addressing topics critical to the African diaspora, screen and discuss a provocative TV show or film and learn about Atlanta history. On Feb. 9, there will be a public lecture and book discussion of Thomas Foster’s “Rethinking Rufus: Sexual Violations of Enslaved Men.”
Open daily. Free. Auburn Avenue Research Library, 101 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta. afpls.org/aarl.
Hammonds House Museum
Transformation is afoot at the Hammonds House Museum, which has featured the work of black artists for more than 30 years. Atlanta-nurtured artist Masud Olufani’s “Translocation & Transfiguration,” on display through March 22, ties news of the past to today. The exhibit “explores how the social complication of ‘blackness’ in America has served as a catalyst for the creative brilliance, cultural inventiveness, and spiritual resilience characteristic of the African diaspora.” Upcoming exhibitions include “Nu Africans” from artists Maurice Evans and Grace Kisa (April 2-June 12) and “The Art of Crunk According to Pastor Troy” (June 16-Aug. 9).
»RELATED: Read our review of "Translocation & Transfiguration"
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; 1-5 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. $7; senior citizens and students $5; free for ages 12 and younger. Hammonds House Museum, 503 Peeples St. SW, Atlanta. hammondshouse.org.
Trap Music Museum
T.I.’s Trap Music Museum, founded in 2018 amplifies the aspects of the Southern hip-hop subgenre the Bankhead ambassador helped pioneer. There are artistic installations on mass incarceration, racism and class inequity, as well as artifacts related to the genre, including 2 Chainz’s ’70s-era pink car from his Pink Trap House pop-up. Most of the museum is dedicated to T.I., Jeezy and other recognizable trap artists. Its latest installation, featuring Nicki Minaj and Atlanta resident Cardi B, is the first to bring in female rappers. Escape room enthusiasts can enjoy Escape the Trap.
»RELATED: Read more about the Trap Music Museum
4 p.m.-midnight Fridays; noon-midnight Saturdays; 2-10 p.m. Sundays. Escape the Trap hours vary but is open daily. $10, museum only. $30, Escape the Trap. Trap Music Museum, 630 Travis St. NW, Atlanta. trapmusicmuseum.us.
True Colors Theatre Company
Since its inaugural 2003-04 season featuring August Wilson’s “Fences,” Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company has made Atlanta an important destination for innovative productions. Its deep talent pool has included Atlanta natives LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Jasmine Guy, as well as Colman Domingo and Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad. This season, Leon passed his artistic director torch to Jamil Jude. Making his own imprint, Jude presents “School Girls; or the African Mean Girls Play,” set in 1986 at a girls’ boarding school in Ghana from Ghanaian-American playwright Jocelyn Bioh (Feb. 11-March 8), and “Marie & Rosetta” (June 16-July 12), chronicling the relationship between Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the unsung godmother of rock ‘n’ roll, and former Mahalia Jackson protégée Marie Knight.
$20-$50. Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road SW, Atlanta. truecolorstheatre.org.
Atlanta History Center
“Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow,” the traveling exhibition created by the New York Historical Society in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, has a Georgia focus. The exhibit explores the difficulties black Americans faced in obtaining full citizenship while also highlighting the agency employed in combatting them. Partnerships with the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library and University of Georgia’s Georgia Museum of Art help put a spotlight on local historical figures and places. In addition to the sweeping history, art from black artists like Jewel Simon, who studied at Atlanta University under pioneering artist and advocate Hale Woodruff (whose own painting “Morehouse College” is on loan from the High Museum) is also on display. Kid-friendly touches throughout the exhibit make it even more accessible.
10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; noon-5:30 p.m. Sundays. $21.50; senior citizens and students $18; ages 4-12 $9. Atlanta History Center, 130 W. Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta. atlantahistorycenter.com.
SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
Atlanta is often an overlooked stop in the journey of acclaimed fashion designer Patrick Kelly, the first American admitted to the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter, the governing body of France’s ready-to-wear industry. “Patrick Kelly, The Journey” is on display at SCAD FASH until July 19. Award-winning Brooklyn-based artist Derrick Adams delved into Kelly’s archive to create abstract collages and sculptural works showcasing Kelly’s vintage clothing patterns, iconic fabrics and distinctive geometric forms. Prior to living in New York City and Paris, where he became famous in the 1980s, the Mississippi native, who courted controversy for his hobby of collecting stereotypical black memorabilia, resided in Atlanta in the 1970s and owned his own shop in Buckhead. Kelly died of AIDS in 1990 at age 35.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays (open until 8 p.m. Thursdays); noon-5 p.m. Sundays. $10; military and senior citizens $8; students $5; under age 14 free. SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film, 4th Floor, 1600 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta. scadfash.org.
MORE: Find more ways to celebrate Black History Month in Atlanta
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