Courtney Vance
Wave Staff Report
LOS ANGELES — The city will begin its celebration of African American Heritage Month at 10 a.m. Feb. 7 at City Hall with a program honoring African Americans who have contributed to the city.
The event is being planned by the city’s Cultural Affairs Department in conjunction with Our Authors Study Club, which is marking 75 years of collaborating with the city on the program.
The city will honor Living Legends actor Richard Brooks, perhaps best known for playing Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette on the first three seasons of Law & Order; and George Weaver, an environmental policy innovator and an instructor for the Brotherhood Crusade.
Actor and author Courtney Vance and actor William Allen Young will be honored as Living Legends in a separate ceremony from 2 to 5 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Los Angeles Central Library. That event will feature a conversation between Vance and Young about Vance’s new book, “The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power.”
In addition, Mike Davis, president of the New Frontier Democratic Club; Lynell George, Grammy Award-winning writer, Darnell Hunt, executive vice chancellor at UCLA; Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Teachers Los Angeles; Dr, Deborah Prothrow-Stith, dean of Charles Drew University College of Medicine; Dr. Jessie L. Sherrod, founder of the Los Angeles Association of Black Women Physicians; and Dr. Richard Allen Williams, pioneering cardiologist, health care equity advocate and cultural innovator; will be the 2025 Hall of Fame honorees.
Prior to the Feb. 7 City Hall ceremony, the city will celebrate an exhibition of the work of noted Los Angeles photographer Leroy Hamilton at 9:30 a.m. in the Henry P. Rios Gallery in City Hall.
The exhibit, called “The Story of Us,” displays Black Angelenos in several dimensions of their lives — at home with family, in the conference room, on the court, in government halls of power, on the mainstage, in the streets, and in places of worship.
In the exhibit, Hamilton seeks to restore the humanity behind Black faces that are often misrepresented.
By capturing a collection of photos of Black Angelenos, Hamilton hopes to draw parallels between movement building in Black Los Angeles to national Black movements.
The photography exhibit, curated and coordinated by Larry Earl, will remain at the Central Library through Feb. 26.
“As the first Black woman to have the privilege of serving as mayor of Los Angeles, I take special pride in joining all Angelenos in celebrating African American Heritage Month,” Mayor Kaen Bass said in a statement. “The immeasurable contributions of Black America continue to this days from city halls across the nation to the halls of Congress, to corporate boardrooms, to grassroots activists fighting to hold America accountable to its promise of equality for all.
“In every corner of our city, Black Angelenos have helped to shape the look, sound and feel of Los Angeles, all the way back to our city’s founding.”
City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson noted Los Angeles’ stature as the entertainment capital of the world and the creativity of Black artists in his comments regarding African American Cultural Heritage Month.
“Art has long been a tool for survival and a catalyst for change,” he said. “The contributions of Black artists span every facet of lived experience, establishing touchstones of excellence across all forms of creative expressions.
“Los Angeles, the creative capital of the world, has become a touchstone of artistic innovation where diverse art forms have emerged or been refined. Our city is home to cultural giants who have left indeible marks. We own a profound debt of gratitude to them and to the many emerging or unheralded talents whose work enriches our community.”
