Please join documentary film director, Avishai Mekonen, in the screening of the trailer of the film he co-directed, 400 Miles to Freedom. Avishai will guide the audience through a talk focused on his personal experience of fleeing Ethiopia as a child during the civil war in Somalia and Eritrea. In a desperate attempt to reach Israel, Avishai and his family, along with thousands of other refugees had to stay in camps in Sudan, where there was a prevalence of child kidnapping and trafficking occurring as a byproduct of the civil war. Avishai will discuss the historical context of child trafficking and bring the audience up to date on the current state of child trafficking. Avishai’s story also illuminates the experience of refugees in Israel both historically and how Ethiopians are integrating into Israeli society today.

Yeganyahu Avishai Mekonen is a filmmaker who emigrated from Ethiopia to Israel in 1984 as part of Operation Moses. He emigrated again in 2001, from Israel to New York City. He holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from Tel Chai College of Haifa University/Hebrew University. His 2000 award-winning documentary, Video Flour, follows two Ethiopian Israeli stand-up comedians and their journey as they decide to produce a videotape of comic acts in Amharic, providing a critical glimpse of Ethiopian life in Israel.

Please note that this is not a full screening of the film 400 Miles to Freedom.

Co-presented by Be'chol Lashon.

Free with MoAD Admission.

This series is designed to bring different scholars to MoAD who will present on a variety of topics related to the African Diaspora. These events create a bridge of conversation between scholars and the community. All talks occur on Saturday mornings 10am -12pm in the Salon. Seating is limited.

Marcus Shelby presents Harriet Tubman and the Blues. The blues is a powerful form of language created by slaves (most notably Harriet Tubman) through the use of field hollers, blues cries, work songs, and spirituals. Marcus Anthony Shelby is an accomplished teacher, composer, arranger, and bassist for more than 20 years.  He is currently the Artistic Director and leader of The Marcus Shelby Orchestra, The Marcus Shelby Hot 7, and the The Marcus Shelby Trio. In 2009 he was awarded the Black Metropolis Research Consortium Fellowship in Chicago to conduct research for his commission to compose “Soul of the Movement”.

Free with MoAD Admission.

Join Awele Makebe for Anansi: From West Africa to the Caribbean and the African Diaspora.  Anansi (ah-NAHN-see), the spider, is a popular figure in the folklore of parts of West Africa (the stories later came with enslaved Africans to the Caribbean islands and the African Diaspora.) Like Brer Rabbit in America, Anansi is a 'trickster' figure - clever, cunning, sometimes mischievous - who uses his wits to make up for what he lacks in size and strength. The Anansi tales are believed to have originated in the Ashanti people in Ghana. (The word Anansi is Akan and means, simply, spider.) They later spread to other Akan groups and then to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles. Following the storytelling, Awele will lead children and their families in Step It Down: Gullah Circle and Clap Games. Traditional Gullah and African-American circle and clap games and songs from folklorist Bessie Jones teach children about cooperative interaction, preparation for adult roles and socialization showing them how to create fun out of nothing more than their hands, feet, voices, and imaginations. 

Awele (ah WAY lay) has mesmerized audiences around the world including TED 2012, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria; the Suriname and Costa Rican rainforest; and Tsinchu Teacher's College in Taiwan. She is an award winning and internationally known storyteller, recording artist, educator and she's also a Community Producer of Cultural Programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. She paints pictures with words, breathes life into characters, teaches, and inspires through the power of story--personal tales, history, folklore and children's literature. Additional info: Awele.com

Folktales Across the African Diaspora is generously supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation

Free with MoAD Admission.

The St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church provides a rhythm section and lead horns which Support the Voices of Compassion (choir), as together they seek to invoke the Spirit of God through Sound praise. The sound praise consists of the Coltrane Liturgy, which combines the Divine Liturgy Of the African Orthodox Church, and the Twenty-third Psalm, with the melodies, harmonies and Rhythms of Saint John Coltrane's masterpiece: A Love Supreme. The dedication of the Ministers of Sound extends far beyond Sunday morning worship and has made Global impact, drawing visitors to the church from all parts of the world. The Saint John Coltrane Church of San Francisco brings together a celebration of African American Classical Music with the divine, through the anointed sound of Saint John Will I Am Coltrane. Melody, harmony, and rhythm transformed into a blessed musical trinity through sound and praise.

Sacred Music, Sunday Fellowship is generously supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation

Free with MoAD Admission.

Please join us at the Museum of the African Diaspora for a FREE curriculum workshop for Bay Area K-12 teachers and educators. In this workshop we will use our “Slavery Passages” exhibit to examine first-person narratives of enslaved African men and women - spanning three continents and three centuries. This workshop is best suited for teachers of grades 9-12, but any educator is welcome to participate. If you would like to attend this or any other workshop, please RSVP to estorer@moadsf.org.

Museum of the African Diaspora Vanguard Presents: MoAD After Dark: The Diaspora Underground

BLACK INK: An Exploration of Black Animators and Cartoonists

6-7pm  Speech Balloon: The Panel  In conversation with Morrie Turner and Carlos Spivey, moderated by Andrew Farago. Join us as Andrew Farago of the Cartoon Art Museum goes behind the screen with Bay Area's own Morrie Turner, the first black nationally syndicated cartoon artist, animator and professor Carlos Spivey, and cartoonist, rapper and social activist Keith Knight.

7-9pm Sound Effects: the Reception Complimentary cocktails provided by ROOT, SNAP & RHUBY, a cartoon photo booth by Lightworks, live caricatures and special screenings.

Early bird -- $15 | General Admission -- $20 | Vanguard Members -- Free

Purchase tickets at www.blackink.eventbrite.com