January 29, 2017 - Black History Month Events Preview Around the Country

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 76 DAYS

Special Events in NYC, Philly & D.C.

Well, hi there!

​Let's see, it's just another ordinary Sunday on this end.  It's been a very quiet weekend, to say the least.  First, with me being out of commission with my stomach virus and not allowing us to go out east for horseback riding.  But, then, it just seemed that my girlies were extra tired and pooped.

All around the country next month are some pretty interesting events celebrating Black History Month.

Tanya and I decided to give you a jump on your planning by listing a few of those that we found particularly interesting!
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(credit: The National Museum of African American History and Culture)

The National Museum of African American History and Culture
1400 Constitution Avenue, NW,
Washington, D.C.
1-844-750-3012

The only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture just opened this past Fall on September 16, 2016 as the 19th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution.


It was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans.

To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become charter members.  

(credit: Mama Cheaps)

The National Constitution Center
INDEPENDENCE MALL
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 
215.409.6600​ 

This February, there will be a variety of programs in honor of African American History Month at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Explore the Museum’s The Story of We the People exhibit to discover key milestones in African-American history.

During daily interactive programs, visitors can learn about the lives of African-American leaders, the history behind the Emancipation Proclamation, and more.

The mission of The National Constitution Center is to inspire active citizenship as the only place where people across America and around the world can come together to learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATIONS
AND EXHIBITS
​AROUND NEW YORK CITY


​Manhattan

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Blvd
New York, NY 
(917) 275-6975

February 1-28

Events all month including:
February 2
Conversations in Black Freedom Studies: Black Power at 50  

February 3
Black Power Poetry Slam/Open Mic edition of First Fridays

February 20
Theater Talks: August Wilson Effect  

February 21
After Death, A Psychological Coup  

February 27
​Model Behavior, with fashion darlings Pat Cleveland and Bethann Hardison
​ 

​Staten Island

Noble Maritime Collection
1000 Richmond Terrace
Staten Island, NY 10301

Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail 
Sat, February 4, 2017
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EST​

The critical historic role played by black mariners in the Port of New York and Brooklyn although poorly understood is deeply relevant today. Over 25% of New York's pre-Civil War maritime workers were black.

These sailors helped to smuggle slaves to freedom and often served as a conduit for news and information. Their skills were critical to the social, educational and communications networks and mobility of black seaboard communities.
​

Queens

(credit: apsnet.org)

Queens Botanical Gardens
43-50 Main St
Flushing, NY 

Celebrate Black History Month: George Washington Carver Workshop  
February 21, 2017, 1 to 2:30 pm - $6/child
​
Botanist George Washington Carver was known as the Wizard of Tuskegee for his groundbreaking research into crops like sweet potatoes, peanuts and soybeans. Children attending this workshop will learn about Carver’s achievements, paint with plant dyes and plant a peanut seed that they can take home.

Brooklyn

(credit: findagrave.com)

Green-Wood Cemetery
25th Street & Fifth Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

Black in 19th-Century Brooklyn
February 25, 2017, 11am to 3:00pm

A trolley tour covers two sites that honor Brooklyn’s African-American history: Green-Wood Cemetery, resting place for numerous notables, and Weeksville, a pre-abolition free black community.

The trip starts by visiting Green-Wood gravesites of figures such as Margaret Pine (1778–1857), the last woman to have lived as a slave in the state; Susan Smith McKinney Steward (1847–1918), the first black female doctor in New York; and the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1959–1988).

The trolley then travels to Crown Heights to visit the grounds and exhibits of the Weeksville Heritage Center, now Brooklyn’s largest African-American cultural institution.   

This coming week is Catholic Schools Week,
Since 1974, National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. It starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week, which in 2017 is January 29 - February 4.

The theme for the National Catholic Schools Week 2017 is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.”

Schools typically observe the annual celebration week with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members. Through these events, schools focus on the value Catholic education provides to young people and its contributions to our church, our communities and our nation.   

There will be lots of great activities going on at the girls' school this week!

​Monday
* Prayer Service

Tuesday
* 6th, 7th & 8th Grade Math Bee
* Studen Buddy Up Day

Wednesday
* 3rd, 4th & 5th Grade Spelling Bee

Thursday
* Spirit Day and Student Game Show Dress Down
Day
* 7th & 8th Grade Sports Night

Friday
* Liturgy

And that's about it for today!
​Hope it's a restful day for you!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 8 DAYS

Rockin' to the 80's

Howdy there Folks!

It's another windy thought fairly warm day here in SoCal. 

Let's start out here - this is kinda funny -
I wasn't planning on waking up too early this morning, but oddly enough I woke up earlier than I have been on my usual M-F schedule (then I realized that I had been looking at the world clock and the Hawaiian time zone!) LOLOL

This was after our super fun day out being a tourist in Los Angeles and our super fun night out bopping about at the 80's Concert!

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Our day had started out with us heading up to LA and sitting in...
You guessed it - a TON of traffic!

Our first stop was to grab a bite at Sunny Blue in Culver City where they have these deliciously addicting Omusubi

Right about now you might be wondering
"What on Earth is Omusubi?"

​According to the Sunny Blue website:
Omusubi (also called Onigiri) are Japanese rice balls with different fillings inside, wrapped with or without nori. Sunny Blue is proud to be the first and only omusubi store in Southern California, where we make omusubi fresh daily or made to order.
In Japan, people of all ages eat omusubi everyday like we eat sandwiches here in the United States. It is a grab and go for our customers to savor them any time and anywhere.
Omusubi is derived from a Japanese word “musubu” which means to hold together or connect. 

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Dave and I had first tried these tasty rice balls last month at the Santa Monica location and from that point on we could't stop thinking about them!!

Next stop was Downtown Los Angeles and up to the "fairly new" OUE Skyspace observation deck.

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​The skies were clear (with the exception of lovely southland smog) the mountain ranges snow capped, and after a while we even caught magic hour and a fantastic sunset.   It was really a lovely time to go. And we had a great time taking in the view... 

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Picture taking (c)travelincousins.com

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Dave was even daring (or crazy) enough to go down the Skyslide -  a glass-bottomed enclosed 45 foot long slide hovering 1,000 feet above city sidewalks.

Credit: OUE

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After all the fun we had, it was time to go to dinner and then to the 80's concert and rock out to the beat from...

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​Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, ABC, Howard Jones, NENA, The Flirts, Altered Images, Bow Wow Wow, Naked Eyes, and The English Beat. 

NENA - 99 Luftballoons (c)travelincousins.com

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Well as you can tell from all of the pictures - we had such a fun day and night yesterday!

However now that I am uploading I am running into technical issues and cannot organize the pictures into the proper chronological order. I need to figure out what is going on...
(UPDATE: ALL FIXED AND REPAIRED NOW)

Aside from all of that, I'm sure that you have probably already noticed that today Elisa and I are featuring upcoming events for February - Black History Month.

While Elisa's focus in on events in New York, my focus will be on a few events across the country here in SoCal. 

LOS ANGELES -


California’s African American Museum kicked off Black History Month with a celebration highlighted the importance of education in history and for future generations. Throughout the month – and all year long – the museum preserve and exhibits the history, art and culture of African Americans.

California's African American Museum
600 State Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90037
(213) 744 7432
www.caamuseum.org


The OranZ museum presents cultural artifacts from throughout the African world, black memorabilia, Blacks in advertising, Negro League baseball history, autographs, a reference library, thousands of artifacts and relics dating from before Christ, to rare and one-of-a-kind photographs dating from the beginning of America to yesterday’s news.
Oran Z has just added a new exhibit: The Return To Blackness, in concert with Valley of the Kings’ Prentice Luster. This is an awesome display of some of the wonders of ancient Egypt.

Oran Z's Pan African Black Facts & Wax Museum
3742 W. Martin L. King Bl
Los Angeles, CA 90008
(323) 299-8829
oransblackmuseum.com/

And for events in Orange County please check out this link to OC Human Relations

I've had a number of technical difficulties today and am gonna say farewell. Lots going on today - which I'll tell ya all about in tomorrow's Daily Scoop.

Wishing you a great day - because you deserve it!
​-T