Black history is immortalized across New York City’s streets, museums, and parks, to name a few. But come February, the city will host more than a plethora of events, celebrations, and educational spaces for locals and visitors to deepen their knowledge of Black history, in which it transcends.
Below are events in New York City — listed in chronological order — to engage with Black history.
Citywide
New York Public Library’s Black History Month
Join The New York Public Library during Black History Month for events and programs including live author talks and panels, book discussions, trivia, STEAM activities for kids, and more. Explore events and programs below for adults, kids, and teens.
When: Starting Wednesday, Feb. 1
Where: NYPL locations across New York City
Manhattan
Central Park’s Arsenal Gallery: Heritage: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future in Black Art
This exhibition features artwork by NYC Parks’ employees who are exploring their Black heritage in a variety of media. The exhibition also includes selections from a collection of vintage hip-hop flyers and vintage invitations produced by NYC Parks’ Ebony Society. Artists included are Tuwanda Harmon, Preston R. Coston. Jr., Buddy Esquire (from the collection of Curtis Sherrod), Claudette Ramos, and Patrick Forman. Curated by NYC Parks’ Ebony Society.
When: Thursday, Feb. 2, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Where: Arsenal Gallery, 3rd Floor, Central Park, 830 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10065
Guggenheim’s The Color Is: I’mPOWER
The Color Is: I’mPOWER begins with a sneak preview of 376 Days, Nick Cave: ‘Keep it Movin’, a short documentary about The Color Is, an event combining art, fashion, and performance produced by Nick and Jack Cave at Chicago’s DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center in 2022. Following the preview, the filmmaker behind 376 Days, Nick Cave, Claude-Aline Miller, will join the Cave brothers for a panel discussion moderated by Michaela angela Davis, writer, stylist, and creator and executive producer of The Hair Tales on Hulu. After the conversation, the Peter B. Lewis Theater will transform into a fashion runway showcasing looks from the Nick and Jack Cave collection.
When: Monday, Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Where: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128
The Schomburg Center presents the Harlem Chamber Players 15th Annual Black History Month Celebration. This live music concert will feature the world premiere of Aruán Ortiz’s Episodes in an Unforeseen Departure as well as solo works for piano and music by Valerie Coleman, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Terrance McKnight’s own juxtapositions of Langston Hughes’ poetry as spoken word over piano works by Beethoven.
Where: 10 Columbus Cir, New York, NY 10023
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Black History Month
Alvin Ailey founded Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958 to carry out his vision of a company dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving the uniqueness of the African-American cultural tradition. For Black History Month, join the theater for dance series to learn about hip-hop, the Dunham technique, the Horton technique, and Afro-Cuban dance.
When: Saturdays Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, and Feb. 25
Where: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, 405 West 55th Street, New York, NY 10019
Hav & Mar’s Black History Month: Prix-Fixe
Chef Marcus Samuelsson and the Hav & Mar team will offer a delicious and unique prix-fixe menu every Monday in February. Ingredients from the menu will be sourced from Black-owned or managed companies. The restaurant will invite guest hosts for each dinner: Klancy Miller: Author of For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food on 2/6, Thelma Golden: Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem on 2/13, Dapper Dan: Harlem fashion icon on 2/20, Derrick Adams: Visual artist & Creative Partner who created Hav & Mar’s site specific work We Are From The Water Too on 2/27.
Guests can enjoy the Black History Month prix-fixe dinner for $85/pp (optional wine pairings at $55/pp or spirit-free beverage pairing at $35/pp).
The Medgar Evers College Black History Month Opening Program, in partnership with the Center for Black Literature, presents a film and panel discussion on The Sun Rises in the East, directed by filmmakers Tayo Giwa and Cynthia Gordy Giwa. The Sun Rises in The East chronicles the birth, rise and legacy of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
When: Friday, Feb. 17, 6 p.m. – Sunday, Feb. 19, 2 a.m.
Where: TBA, New York, NY
Our Harlem guided tour emphasizes the artistic, literary, and musical flowerings of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance. Learn how this period laid the intellectual foundation for the early Civil Rights Movement. Stops could include the Abyssinian Baptist Church, Striver’s Row, the Apollo Theater, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Hotel Theresa, and sites associated with W.E.B. DuBois, Madame C.J. Walker, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Carl van Vechten, and many others.
Join MCNY this Black History Month for a matinee screening of Passing, Rebecca Hall’s 2021 adaptation of the celebrated 1929 novel by Nella Larsen. Passing tells the story of two Black women, Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga), who can “pass” as white but choose to live on opposite sides of the color line during the height of the Harlem Renaissance in late 1920s New York. The film will be introduced by Harlem style intellectual Lana Turner, and followed by a conversation with Turner and historian/curator Dominique Jean-Louis.
The Shabazz Center’s Living The Legacy: The 58th Commemoration of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz
Join The Shabezz Center as it commemorates the 58th memorial of Malcolm X’s martyrdom with keynote speaker, Dr. Angela Davis and others! More information to come soon.
SNIPES invites you to ‘Making History,’ a panel discussion, live at The Apollo Theater. Join the sneaker and streetwear retailer for an insightful discussion on the topics of black music, media, entrepreneurship, and what aspiring artists need to know to best prepare themselves for career success.
When: Friday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Since opening its doors in 1914 and introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo has played a major role in the emergence of jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, and soul — all quintessentially American music genres. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis Jr., James Brown, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and countless others began their road to stardom on the Apollo stage. Today, the Apollo is a respected not-for-profit, presenting concerts, theatrical and dance performances, film screenings, education and community outreach programs.
The Met’s Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room
This period room rejects the notion of one historical period and embraces the African and African diasporic belief that the past, present, and future are interconnected and that informed speculation may uncover many possibilities. Powered by Afrofuturism—a transdisciplinary creative mode that centers Black imagination, excellence, and self-determination—this construction is only one proposition for what might have been, had Seneca Village (a 19-century, community of free, Black landowners where a part of Central Park now exists) been allowed to thrive into the present and beyond.
When: Ongoing
Where: The Met, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028
The Tenement Museum’s permanent initiative, Reclaiming Black Spaces, highlights stories of how Black and African Americans shaped this part of the city as they made homes, businesses, and communities in Lower Manhattan.
The Studio Museum in Harlem is the nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally and for work that has been inspired and influenced by Black culture. It is a site for the dynamic exchange of ideas about art and society.
African Burial Ground National Monument
When: Ongoing
Where: African Burial Ground National Monument, 290 Broadway, New York, NY 10007
Over the last half century, hip hop has taken over the world. As the invention of Black and Brown working class youth, hip hop style has been criticized, stereotyped, and oversimplified in the ways that institutional racism affects most marginalized people’s cultural expressions. Fresh, Fly, and Fabulous focuses on several themes that have carried through hip hop style over the last five decades, from the expression of Black Pride, to the centrality of outerwear and denim, and the influence of sports, and, of course, celebrity style. The exhibition ends with Hip Hop Glam—a red carpet of the avant-garde styles that hip hop artists have showcased on the world stage.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturday: Legacy
Ring in Black History Month and celebrate twenty-five years of First Saturdays! This month’s theme honors the legacy of Black artistic production in Brooklyn. The evening’s events vibrate with the creative excellence of Black artists who are shaping the borough’s culture today and of throwback performers who put First Saturdays on the map.
When: Saturday, Feb. 4, 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Where: Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, 11238
Central Library’s Classical Interludes: Harlem Chamber Players
The Harlem Chamber Players is an ethnically diverse collective of professional musicians dedicated to bringing high-caliber, affordable and accessible live classical music to people in the Harlem community and beyond. In addition, The Harlem Chamber Players builds diverse audiences for classical music in general through community and educational outreach, as well as through collaborations with Harlem’s other arts organizations, schools and cultural institutions, while creating opportunities for classically trained musicians of color.
When: Sunday, Feb. 12, 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Where: Central Library, Dweck Center, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Fun with Friends Black History & Culture Trivia Night
Join Fun with Friends for a night of Black Trivia and games. They’ll be dishing out questions spanning Black history, culture, music and much more. Come through with your friends and test your knowledge. This event is fueled by Maker’s Mark so be sure to hit the bar for delicious drink specials. There will also be a mini spades tournament so bring your favorite partner through too!
When: Thursday, Feb. 16, 6 p.m – 10 p.m.
Where: Lucky’s Cocktail Lounge, 334 Marcus Garvey Blvd, Brooklyn, NY 11221
Frolic Burlesque at C’mon Everybody
Black history month is filled with Black art and we are excited to share the stage woth a beautiful all black burlesque cast. Featuring host Foxy Belle Afriq, Poison Ivory, Rain Supreme, Qualms Galore, Queerly Femmetastic and Susie Dahl. Black and POC vendors will be on site, and guests can enter a raffle with products from Black-owned businesses.
When: Thursday, Feb. 16, 8 p.m.
Where: C’mon Everybody, 325 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Shop Black: A Black History Month Pop-Up Shop
Come support small Black-owned businesses and artisans at this Pop-Up Shop for Black History Month.
When: Saturday, Feb. 18, 1 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Where: New Women Space, 188 Woodpoint Road, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s Black Future Festival
Join Brooklyn Children’s Museum for a week of reflection and future-forward fun inspired by the national celebration of peoples of the African Diaspora and Black History Month. Together with festival curator Àṣẹ Dance Theater Collective, experience interactive dance performances, storytelling, genealogy workshops, art-making in the ColorLab art studio, tasty food, and more.
When: Sunday, Feb. 19, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Where: Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213
Drunk Black History Comedy Show
Comedians Brandon Collins (SXSW) and Gordon Baker-Bone (MTV) host this interactive show where prominent Black historical figures will finally get their due through drunken anecdotes from booked guests.
When: Thursday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m., doors at 7 p.m.
Where: The Bell House, 149 7th Street (Between 2nd and 3rd Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11215
Black Creatives + Culture Market: Black History Month Edition ’23
In celebration of Black History Month, DA SPOT NYC in partnership with City Point BKLYN will host its third annual Black Creatives and Culture MKT. This three-day weekend long event will feature local creative Black-owned and POC brands at City Point BKLYN on Prince Street and inside Brooklyn Studios. The curated market will include vendors in Fashion, Beauty, Wellness, Food and Lifestyle Goods as well as an art gallery, conversation series, special performances, exhibits and live DJ.
When: Friday, Feb. 24, 11 a.m. – Sunday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m.
Where: Da Spot NYC, 445 Albee Square W, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Green-Wood Cemetery’s Black in Brooklyn Trolley Tour
In honor of Black History Month, Green-Wood presents this celebration of the unique stories of Black lives in Green-Wood. While Brooklyn and New York City have long struggled with segregation and racism, they also have a history of diversity, progress, and activism. This trolley tour, led by Green-Wood Historian Jeff Richman, will examine the life and accomplishments of many prominent Black New Yorkers, as well as several abolitionists who fought for freedom in America.
When: Saturday, Feb. 25, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Where: The Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Join the Brooklyn Public Library for this two-part series about the role of Brooklyn’s Black churches in the fight for social justice, presented in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Chapter of the NAACP. Part 1 takes place virtually. Part 2 takes place in-person.
When: Monday, Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Where: Central Library, Dweck Center, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Fulton Art Fair: Black Resistance
Skyblue Gallery presents a celebration of Black History and Fulton Art Fair artists. Check out their other show just down the street at Weeksville Heritage Center, a historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that preserves, documents and inspires engagement with the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, and the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses.
When: Starting Saturday, Feb. 4 – Saturday, Feb. 25, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Where: Skyblue Gallery, 1766 Bergen St., Brooklyn, NY 11233
Queens
Flushing Town Hall’s Black History Month Trilogy #1 – The Chuck Berry Rock & Roll Concert Part
Flushing Town Hall kicks off its 2023 Black History Month Trilogy by celebrating one of the founding fathers of Rock & Roll, Chuck Berry. His profound impact on the genre has named his music as the DNA of Rock & Roll itself. Enjoy an energetic night celebrating Chuck Berry’s music and legacy performed by Keith “The Captain” Gamble.
When: Friday, Feb. 3, 7 p.m.
Where: Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY 11354
Queens Theatre’s Every Body Move
Queens Theatre, in partnership with the acclaimed Camille A. Brown & Dancers, welcomes girls and teens for a fun, 12-part series of freedance workshops. CABD’s Every Body Move program fosters and nurtures everyone’s innate creativity through social dance workshops, which joyfully celebrate the rich legacy and history of African American and African diaspora-based movement traditions found in social dance.
When: Saturdays, starting Feb. 4 to May 11
Where: Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave South, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, NY 11368
King Manor Museum’s Hands on History: Supreme Black History
Come celebrate with King Manor Museum as they highlight Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice and lawyer in the Brown v Board of Education court case (1954), and current Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to be on the Supreme Court. Rufus King, like them, was a lawyer and has a collection of wooden gavels made from the trees in his yard. Come design your own gavel to hold your own mock trials and inspire a future career in the justice system.
When: Saturday, Feb. 18, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Where: King Manor Museum, 150-03 Jamaica Avenue Queens, NY 11432
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning’s Queen Bess (The Bessie Coleman Story)
This special play will celebrate the life and career of Bessie Coleman. Coleman was the first African American, and the first Native American to receive her international pilot’s license. Queen Bess (The Bessie Coleman Story) By Tommie J. Moore was a hit in JCAL’s script development series Meet the Playwright, and will now be presented as a full length play.
When: Thursday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. to Saturday, March 4, 8 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Where: Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, 161-4 Jamaica Avenue, Queens, NY 11432
Sedalia to Harlem: A Celebration of Black History Through Song
Join Musica Reginae Productions founder Maestro David Close as he returns to host and guide you through musical gems of the jazz, opera and African American Spiritual genres, tracing the rich tradition of black music, art and culture in America.
When: Saturday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Where: Church In the Gardens, 50 Ascan Avenue Queens, NY 11375
The Louis Armstrong House Museum & Archives is open to the public, offering guided tours of Louis’ longtime home. On the tour, audio clips from Louis’ homemade recordings are played, and visitors hear Louis practicing his trumpet, listening to music, or talking with his friends. Visitors also get to enjoy an exhibit on Louis’ life and legacy, and the Armstrongs’ beautiful Japanese-inspired garden.
When: Ongoing
Where: The Louis Armstrong House Museum, 34-56 107th Street, Queens, NY 11368
The Bronx
Bronx Library Center’s Journaling: Reflecting on Black History
Join Bronx Library Center for their monthly journaling session where you will be given prompts and questions to help spur your writing which can help you reduce stress, gain confidence and find inspiration. Using a variety of prompts and tools you will explore the importance of Black history and celebrating Black history month, including built-in writing time and an opportunity to share at the end of the program.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Where: Bronx Library Center, 310 E Kingsbridge Rd, The Bronx, NY 10458
La Central YMCA’s Unapologetically Black: Building Pride, Power, & Privilege
I’RAISE Girls and Boys International will host Unapologetically Black, a free event celebrating the art, music, and fashion of the Black Diaspora. The event will also provide a space where Black youth can find peer support and learn how to advocate for their own and others’ mental health. Attendees can expect artistic performances, youth-led mental health workshops, panels, and refreshments from BLVD Bistro NY.
When: Saturday, Feb. 18, 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Where: La Central YMCA, 434 Westchester Avenue, The Bronx, NY 10455
The Universal Hip Hop Museum
Anchored in the birthplace of the culture, the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx will provide a space for audiences, artists, and technology to converge, creating unparalleled educational and entertainment experiences around the Hip Hop culture of the past, present, and future. This year is the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop!
When: Ongoing
Where: Universal Hip Hop Museum, 610 Exterior Street, The Bronx, NY 10451
New York Botanical Garden’s Rooted in Plants: Celebrate Black History Month
Come to the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden to explore ways in which people of the African Diaspora have contributed to our understanding and uses of plants around the world! Investigate seeds native to Africa, and learn about West African indigo dyeing by making your own dyed bag. Create your own pine cone bird feeder in celebration of NYC Black birder Christian Cooper. When: Ongoing until Tuesday, Feb. 28, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Staten Island
Sandy Ground Historical Museum
When: Ongoing
Where: Sandy Ground Historical Museum, 1538 Woodrow Rd, Staten Island, NY 10309
Have an event to share? Send your submissions to sarah.belle.lin@amny.com.
