Black History Month is an opportunity to explore African American culture through music, film, television, cuisine, and art. Wondering where to begin? United Way of King County has you covered! In honor of Black History Month and this year’s theme, “African Americans and the Arts,” we are amplifying and celebrating the contributions African Americans have made to the arts. Check out some suggestions to immerse yourself in African American culture all month long—and beyond.

Listen

Suppose you’re attending your favorite artist’s outdoor concert, and the power on stage goes out at every location except the artist’s microphone. How would that artist fare—minus the band, the backup singers, and the sound mixer?

If your favorite artist is Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Barry White, Ella Fitzgerald, or Patti Labelle, you already know. Their voices epitomize Black music: rich, soulful, powerful, captivating, and melodic. Never mind a song in a cappella, each of these artists could croon, “Preheat oven to 350 degrees,” and make it sound good.

This month, immerse yourself in Black music. Here’s a good place to start: A YouTube video of the 1998 Grammy Awards, where Franklin filled in for an ailing Luciano Pavarotti at the last minute to perform the tenor aria, “Nessun Dorma.” Her performance is regarded as one of the most memorable in Grammy Awards history. From there, slide over to “Can’t Get Enough” by Barry White or “Let’s Get it On” by Marvin Gaye.

Watch

When movie websites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMBD list the top Black films of all time, titles primarily span the past 20-30 years, from “Boyz in the Hood” and “Malcolm X” to “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Till.” And while each of these films is magnificent in portraying Black voices and images on screen with powerful storylines, they should only be part of a more expansive list that spans a greater period.

This month, expand your viewing of African American cinema by including Blaxploitation films, a 1970s genre of films intentionally created to appeal to Black audiences. Most are unfortunately low-budget and heavy on stereotypes, but a few stand out as classic cinema.

Here’s a good place to start:

• “Lady Sings the Blues,” a 1972 film that stars Diana Ross as Billie Holiday
• “Sounder,” a 1972 Cicely Tyson starrer about a poor sharecropper family whose father is sent to prison after being caught stealing food.

Both Ross and Tyson earned Academy Award nominations for their roles.  

Netflix has done yeoman’s service with its offerings of Black films, series, and documentaries. It’s a great place to watch shows like “They Cloned Tyrone,” “Rustin,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and “The Black Godfather.” Yet one of the top television series can be found on PBS: “Eyes on the Prize,” a 14-part documentary that chronicles the American Civil Rights movement—from the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott to the 1970s school desegregation in Boston to the 1980 Miami riots. “Eyes on the Prize” was released in 1987 and ran through 1990.

Read

African Americans have often experienced barriers in getting their stories to television and film. Literature is another story: The industry is replete with poetry and prose about the Black experience, some told by many of the nation’s most treasured authors and others told by everyday people.

Immerse yourself in Black literature this month. Here are great places to start:

• “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson compares America’s de facto caste system to that of foreign lands and explores the power of that system on its lower classes.
• “Beloved” is a novel that earned author Toni Morrison the Nobel Prize for literature. It is the story of a former slave woman who killed her daughter to save her from slavery.
• “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” is an autobiography about the minister and activist as told to American journalist Alex Haley. Published nine months after Malcolm X’s assassination, the book explores his life and views on such topics as race and Black nationalism.

• “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson compares America’s de facto caste system to that of foreign lands and explores the power of that system on its lower classes.
• “Beloved” is a novel that earned author Toni Morrison the Nobel Prize for literature. It is the story of a former slave woman who killed her daughter to save her from slavery.
• “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” is an autobiography about the minister and activist as told to American journalist Alex Haley. Published nine months after Malcolm X’s assassination, the book explores his life and views on such topics as race and Black nationalism.

Cuisine

Simply put, there are way too many choices for one blog post, and that’s a good thing. Here are a few great places to start (and some of the food they offer):

• Jackson’s Catfish Corner in the Central District (catfish strips, prawn sandwich, chicken wing dinner).
• Communion in the Central District (black eye pea hummus, short ribs, smothered chicken and dumplings, and stuffed trout).
• Plum Bistro on Capitol Hill (roasted cauliflower and yam soup, charred broccolini, and “bold and bright” pesto tofu)
• Nana’s Southern Kitchen in Kent (fried shrimp, oxtails combo, and catfish nuggets).
• Pinckney Cookie Café in Kirkland (classic chocolate chip, ginger molasses, and brown butter brown sugar bourbon spice).

Explore

Again, many to mention. Here are a few:

• United Way of King County will host its Advancing Racial Equity Series event, Revisiting Dr. King’s Lost Speech at the Rainier Arts Center on February 13 at 6 p.m.
• During the entire month of February, Rainier Avenue Radio has turned the Columbia City Arts Center into its “Call to Conscience Black History Museum” with more than 15 Black History exhibits. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Check out Bainbridge Island Museum of Art’s exhibit, Black and Boujee which showcases Black artists, designers, and creators. The exhibit runs through February 20.
• Langston Seattle will host several events this month, including African Healing Drum Classes and Improve Theater Classes to build self-confidence, and Space is the Place, a science-fiction film that blends Afrofuturism and jazz.
• The Northwest African American Museum is hosting a Black History Month Keynote featuring Dr. Dorthea Williams of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Also, check out its current exhibit, Positive Frequencies, which explores the connection between art and music with works from Samuel Blackwell, Myron Curry, and Eric Salisbury.