Cultural expressions of the African-American experience are a 12-months-a-year matter in metro Atlanta. But the representation is particularly strong in February, as metro Atlanta artists and arts institutions celebrate Black History Month by presenting extensive performing and visual arts programming, much of it free.
Here’s are 10 highlights:
Final bows for one of Ailey’s finest
Renee Robinson, the last performer still dancing with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre who was chosen by the troupe’s legendary founder,makes her Atlanta farewell when the company visits the Fox Theatre, Feb. 14 through 17.
Robinson, who joined the company in 1981, will perform Feb. 14 and 15 in Ailey’s signature work “Revelations,” raising her iconic parasol in the baptism scene as she’s done hundreds times.
“It makes me feel good to take care of something that people like so much,” Robinson told The New York Times about Ailey’s ode to the Texas churches of his childhood.
8 p.m. Feb. 14-15, 2 and 8 p.m. Feb. 16, 3 p.m. Feb. 17. Tickets start at $25. 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 1-855-285-8499, www.foxatltix.com.
Roswell digs deep with ‘Roots’
“Roswell Roots: A Festival of Black History and Culture,” the metro area’s most comprehensive Black History Month observance, is bigger than ever this February. The 12th annual gathering includes 22 events (music, dance, poetry, food and more) and six, month-long exhibits.
Among the highlights: a concert by Freddy Cole and his jazz quartet at 8 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center; a “Slammin’ in the Suburbs” poetry slam, 7 p.m. Feb. 21 at Roswell Historic Cottage; a Cornbread Cook-Off, 1-3 p.m. Feb. 23 at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Community Center; and an exhibit of paintings by Morehouse College graduate Lionel Daniels in the Cultural Arts Center’s Lobby Gallery through February.
770-641-3705, www.roswellroots.com.
Tuskegee Airmen ‘Fly’ again
Years after they retired their wings, the surviving members of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen have experienced a renewed interest in their shattering of the color line during World War II. In recent years, the first black fighter pilots have been lauded in books and movies on the big and small screens.
“Fly,” a play about the airmen by Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan, continues through Feb. 24 at Theatrical Outfit.
$15-$33. 84 Luckie St., Atlanta. 678-528-1500, www.theatricaloutfit.org.
Lessons for today from 1906 race riot
During the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, dozens died in a rampage of racial wrath about which few today are aware. But the legacy of that pivotal event will be the topic of “Four Days of Fury: Atlanta 1906,” an interactive play at the Atlanta History Center (recommended for ages 16 and up). Post-performance discussions will try to relate lessons learned from the riots to the racial climate of Atlanta today.
Feb. 15, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24. $10-$15. 130 W. Paces Ferry Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-814-4000, www.atlantahistorycenter.com.
“Two Trains,” two powerhouse women
August Wilson’s “Two Trains Running” will open at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre on Feb. 12. But the big names in this iconic play are director LaTanya Richardson Jackson, wife of Samuel L. Jackson, and actress Pauletta Washington, wife of actor Denzel Washington.
Though some may show up hoping to get a glimpse of their famous husbands, how these accomplished artists interpret Wilson’s tale of a gentrifying Pittsburgh neighborhood in 1969 ought to be draw enough.
Feb. 15-March 10. $15-$60. Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road. S.W., Atlanta. 1-877-725-8849, www.truecolorstheatre.org.
‘An American Story’ by way of Pittsburgh
Despite the constraints inherent in the Jim Crow era, life went on in African-American communities across America. In Pittsburgh, Pa., a photographer documented the day-to-day with precision and passion that conveyed that it was important.
“Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story,” a retrospective of 81 black-and-white images organized by Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art, is on view at the Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library.
Shooting in his studio and out in the world for the Pittsburgh Courier, Harris (1908 to 1998) captured the famous (such as Lena Horne and Joe Lewis) and everyday folks such as soldiers with their brides and young women chomping on caramel apples.
Through May 24. Free. 111 James P. Brawley Drive S.W., Atlanta. 404-978-2003, www.auctr.edu.
Authors of slavery books to read
Read about it. Two books to consider this month are “My Father’s Name” by Lawrence P. Jackson, an Emory University professor of African-American history, and “Wash,” by Birmingham, Ala., native Margaret Wrinkle.
“My Father’s Name” (University of Chicago Press, $25) documents Jackson’s quest to find out as much as he can about his family’s history as slaves in Virginia. “Wash” is a novel about what it was like to be the first person in a family born into slavery during the American Revolution.
On Feb. 11, Jackson reads at Georgia Center for the Book at the DeKalb County Public Library in downtown Decatur at 7:15 p.m. On Feb. 19, Wrinkle reads from her book at 7:15, also in a center presentation.
Free. 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, ext. 2225, www.georgiacenterforthebook.org.
Revival of a South African classic
Lawrenceville’s Aurora Theatre will revive South African playwright Athol Fugard’s 1982 apartheid drama “Master Harold … and the Boys,” part of its Harvel Lab Series, Feb. 14 through March 3. Assessing the price of institutionalized racism, it’s the tale of a life-changing experience for 17-year old Hally (recent New York transplant Hazen Cuyler) and his servants-turned-confidants (Rob Cleveland, Christopher Watson).
8 p.m. Thursday-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays. $15. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. 678-226-6222, www.auroratheatre.com.
‘Lessons’ from a Big Read
A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts 2013 Big Read grant, which encourages community reading and conversation surrounding a single book, the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System offers extensive free film screenings and programs this month at all 34 libraries about Ernest Gaines’ “A Lesson Before Dying.”
Full list: www.afpls.org.
DuBois’ ideas considered
When you’re trying to find a way forward, it doesn’t hurt to look at the past. Which is what can be expected at Clark Atlanta University’s four-day conference marking the 50th anniversary of W.E.B. DuBois’ death.
A founder of the precursor to the NAACP and an Atlanta University faculty member, DuBois was one of the 20th century’s great intellectuals, particularly surrounding matters of race and quality.
Among those appearing at the conference will be Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka and Arthur McFarlane, DuBois’ great-grandson.
CAU campus, 223 James P. Brawley Drive, Atlanta. 404-880-8000, www.cau.edu.
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